Friday report

Friday report

Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC,

  • Roll Call reports,
    • “The timeline is slipping for senators to strike a bipartisan deal on a short-term funding patch before their August recess as leadership struggles to work out the finer details.
    • “Senior appropriators had been hopeful of unveiling text before the weekend for a stopgap measure expected to keep the government funded into early December. But sources say leaders are now more likely to release text later this weekend or early next week amid snags over a federal grant rule and other add-ons.
    • “The Trump administration’s proposed rule would give senior political appointees greater influence over the grant approval process and has drawn pushback from appropriators on both sides of the aisle.
    • “Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, noted Thursday that the rule has drawn considerable criticism from “a wide range of groups.”
    • “So, I hope we’ll take advantage of this opportunity to delay it,” she said. “But that’s up to the leadership. It’s obviously not a funding issue.”
    • “The grants dispute is among the last-minute hitches and “anomalies” that negotiators have said leadership is sorting through as senators aim for floor consideration next week.
    • “The Senate is currently scheduled to take a procedural vote Monday on the legislative vehicle for the continuing resolution that is needed to stave off a partial government shutdown on Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year begins.
    • “The House has already passed a Republican-crafted stopgap bill to extend current funding through Dec. 4. But senators say further “anomalies,” or deviations from current spending, are needed, noting the gap between add-ons requested by the White House and the House GOP’s bare-bones funding patch.”
  • Bloomberg Law relates,
    • “The Trump administration will increase Medicare payments for hospital services by 2.3%, or $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2027, according to a final rule released Friday.
    • “The final rule (RIN 0938-AV79) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also includes a 2.2% reimbursement bump of $54 million for long-term care hospitals, along with several new hospital quality reporting measures.
    • “These include the adoption of quality measures for diabetes, deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolisms, quality care planning, and mortality rates. 
    • “The final rule also expands the agency’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) Model, which holds hospitals financially accountable for the quality and cost of hip, knee, and ankle replacements, through incentive payments
    • “The agency says the program has produced strong evidence of cost savings while maintaining quality of care. 
    • “The mandatory model will now be expanded nationwide beginning Jan. 1, 2028.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review points out nine things to know about today’s rule.
  • Here’s a link to CMS’s Fact Sheet on today’s rule.
  • The American Hospital Association News adds.
    • “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today finalized a 2.3% payment update for long-term care hospitals for fiscal year 2027 relative to FY 2026. This includes a 3.2% market basket update, reduced by a 0.9 percentage point productivity adjustment. In addition, CMS finalized its decision to freeze the outlier threshold at $78,936, the same level as FY 2026. For the LTCH Quality Reporting Program, CMS finalized the removal of two measures related to COVID-19 vaccination and a shortened data reporting timeline.
    • :In a statement shared with media today, Joanna Hiatt Kim, AHA’s vice president of payment policy, said, “[W]e remain concerned about continued inadequacies in the LTCH payment system that have contributed to declining patient volumes and the closure of facilities across the country, threatening access to care for medically complex patients. Although the AHA appreciates that CMS did not further raise the outlier threshold in this final rule, broader reforms are needed to support the LTCH field. We remain committed to working with the Administration and Congress to advance the AHA’s LTCH reform principles and promote a more sustainable payment framework that preserves patient access to LTCH services.”
  • The American Hospital Association News further informs us,
    • “The Department of Health and Human Services today issued a notice announcing a revised 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program, allowing qualifying drug manufacturers to use rebates rather than upfront discounts to effectuate the 340B ceiling price for certain drugs purchased by 340B covered entities. 
    • “In a statement shared with the media, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said, “The AHA is deeply concerned that HHS has chosen to move forward with a 340B Rebate Model Program despite the overwhelming evidence that it will impose massive new administrative and financial burdens on hospitals that serve America’s most vulnerable patients. The agency’s analysis dramatically understates the true costs of this program, ignoring the hundreds of millions of dollars in compliance expenses, cash-flow disruptions, and operational burdens that will inevitably divert scarce resources away from patient care. At a time when many hospitals are already under severe financial strain, this policy will force hospitals in rural and other underserved communities to spend more on bureaucracy and less on the services and care that patients depend on every day. As we continue to review today’s notice, the AHA is considering all available options to prevent this flawed program from going into effect.” 
    • “HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration said the pilot is designed to test a rebate-based approach for a set of drugs while gathering information on program integrity, operational impacts and the interaction between the 340B program and Medicare’s Drug Price Negotiation Program. The pilot is limited to drugs included on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Selected Drug Lists for initial price applicability years 2026 and 2027
    • “Under the notice, manufacturers that wish to participate must submit plans to HRSA by Aug. 24. HRSA said it will make approval decisions by Sept. 24, and approved rebate models will take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Participating manufacturers must commit to the pilot for at least one year. “
  • Per an HHS news release,
    • ‘The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced today that it has awarded $73.2 million in grants to strengthen children’s mental health services, suicide prevention programs, and to expand assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) to those with serious mental illness.”
  • OPM posted in the Federal Register today direct final rules (previously known as interim final rules with opportunity for public comment)
    • FLSA Claims and Compliance
      • to update the provisions concerning Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims submissions to OPM.
      • DATES: This direct final rule (DFR) is effective September 29, 2026 unless significant adverse comment is submitted by August 31, 2026. If OPM receives significant adverse comment, OPM will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register.
  • and
    • Procedures for settling claims
      • to update the provisions concerning administrative claims submissions to OPM.
      • DATES: This direct final rule (DFR) is effective September 29, 2026 unless significant adverse comment is submitted by August 31, 2026. If OPM receives significant adverse comment, OPM will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register.
  • Per an OPM news release,
    • “The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) today issued governmentwide guidance to departments and agencies on preparing Fiscal Year 2027 Annual Staffing Plans, advancing the Trump Administration’s efforts to modernize federal workforce planning, strengthen merit-based hiring, and ensure agencies are strategically positioned to deliver efficient, high-quality services to the American people.
    • “The guidance implements Executive Order 14356, Ensuring Continued Accountability in Federal Hiring, and provides agencies with a framework for conducting rigorous, bottom-up workforce planning that prioritizes mission-critical positions, modern technology talent, and early career hiring while improving governmentwide visibility into staffing needs.
    • “Annual Staffing Plans will require agencies to identify workforce needs based on mission requirements—not historical staffing levels—and reserve budget and positions for critical hiring priorities, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, software engineering, and other technology roles. The guidance also directs agencies to leverage governmentwide hiring initiatives such as US Tech Force and the Early Career Talent Network to improve hiring quality, reduce duplication, and accelerate recruitment across the federal government.”
  • Kevin Moss, writing in Federal News Network, explains “How a household with two federal employees can save on their FEHB premiums by enrolling self-only.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • Cure reports,
    • “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Pluvicto (lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan) in combination with androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) therapy for adults with PSMA-positive metastatic androgen pathway modulation-naïve or -sensitive prostate cancer, a disease previously known as metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.
    • “The July 31 approval expands the use of Pluvicto to patients whose prostate cancer has spread but has not yet become resistant to hormone therapy. The treatment is intended for patients whose tumors express prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a protein found on many prostate cancer cells.”
  • MedTech Dive relates,
    • “Surgical robotics company MMI has received the Food and Drug Administration’s approval to expand an early feasibility study of microsurgery for Alzheimer’s disease.
    • “The REMIND study is evaluating the safety and feasibility of using MMI’s Symani robotic system in microsurgery procedures to re-establish drainage pathways in the deep cervical lymph nodes of patients with neurodegenerative disease. Patients in the trial also have confirmed lymphatic abnormalities.
    • “The FDA gave MMI the go-ahead to expand the number of people who can enroll in the study to 15, from up to five in the initial group, the company said Thursday.”
  • The American Journal of Managed Care lets us know,
    • “Late last week] six peptides received narrow advisory support for potential 503A Bulks List inclusion, an atypical outcome given FDA staff recommendations against all seven under review. 
    • “Legal compounding remains prohibited absent FDA acceptance and completion of proposed and final rulemaking; none of the substances is FDA-approved. 
    • “FDA reviewers cited short, underpowered studies insufficient for safety/efficacy across proposed indications, including limited BPC-157 trial data. 
    • “Committee reconstitution drew conflict-of-interest scrutiny, with increased representation from clinicians and businesses involved in prescribing, producing, or promoting peptides. 
    • “Payers should expect persistent cash-pay utilization and unregulated online procurement, necessitating rigorous medication reconciliation and adverse-event monitoring given sparse human safety data.”

From the judicial front,

  • Per a Justice Department news release,
    • “New York ophthalmology practices Mark D. Fromer, P.C. doing business as Fromer Eye Centers and Floral Park Ophthalmology P.C. have agreed to pay a total of $2.3 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act arising from their billing for trans-cranial doppler ultrasounds (TCDs) through a kickback arrangement with a third-party testing company. The Estate of Mark Fromer, the former owner of Fromer Eye Centers, also joined in the settlement with the practice. Both practices have agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigations of other participants in the alleged scheme.” * * *
    • The claims resolved by the settlements are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today,
    • “As of July 31, 2026, the amount of acute respiratory illness causing people to seek health care is very low.
    • “Considering multiple data sources, COVID-19 activity is low and stable nationally but is beginning to show early signs of an increase in the West and South.
    • “RSV activity is very low in most areas of the country. Emergency department visits and hospitalizations for RSV are low but remain highest among infants and children younger than 4 years old.
    • “Seasonal influenza activity is low.
    • “Parainfluenza (PIV) and respiratory adenovirus are elevated nationally. Whooping cough (pertussis) continues to circulate at lower levels compared to post-pandemic peaks.”
  • The University of Minnesota CIDRAP reports,
    • “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 53 new US measles cases this week, bringing the total for the year to 2,371 cases.
    • “All but 16 of the cases were locally acquired in 45 US jurisdictions, with the rest tied to international travel, the CDC said in its weekly update. There have been 37 new measles outbreaks reported this year, with 94% of cases associated with outbreaks (defined as three or more cases).” * * *
    • “Among the current measles hotspots is Pennsylvania, which has reported 31 new cases over the past seven days and now has 167 cases for the year, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Officials in neighboring Ohio yesterday confirmed four new cases in unvaccinated individuals in Ashtabula and Tuscarawas counties. It’s Ohio’s third measles outbreak this year.”
  • The American Journal of Managed Care gives us “FAQs: Cyclospora Recovery, Treatment, and Outbreak Prevention Strategies.”
    • “Epidemiologic and traceback evidence implicates shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico as the exposure source, despite a disclosed false-positive border test not changing investigation conclusions. 
    • “Symptom onset typically occurs about one week post-exposure and includes profuse watery diarrhea, anorexia, nausea, bloating, weight loss, and fatigue, while some infections remain asymptomatic. 
    • “Higher-risk groups include immunocompromised patients, older adults, and those with limited care access, who may need longer antibiotic courses and closer monitoring for dehydration and prolonged illness. 
    • “TMP-SMX is the treatment of choice but requires individualized risk–benefit assessment given adverse reactions and a clinically meaningful, though comparatively lower, association with C difficile. 
    • “Public health control relies on clinician/lab case reporting, standardized exposure questionnaires, and FDA traceback; absent whole-genome sequencing for Cyclospora, marker-based genotyping supports source identification.”
  • The Wall Street Journal adds,
    • “In the verdant fields of California’s Salinas Valley, Larry Cox is watching his lettuce wilt.
    • “Cox and his two sons run Coastline Family Farms, which supplies leafy greens to some of the country’s biggest restaurant chains and grocery stores. But this week, in the region known as America’s Salad Bowl, around 300,000 pounds of his romaine hearts were chopped and plowed back into the soil.
    • “There is no evidence that his, or any of the nation’s homegrown lettuce, was infected with the parasite behind an illness outbreak that has sickened thousands of people so far. Even so, that hasn’t stopped Cox’s dependable restaurant and grocery customers from cutting back on orders.
    • “Many growers are destroying the crops they can’t find buyers for. Since lettuce has about a 30-day growing cycle, farmers that are plowing their crops back into the ground are weighing whether to replant or dial back. 
    • “It is incredibly demoralizing,” Cox said. “I would’ve been better off taking a vacation in the South of France than planting the crop.”
  • USA Today relates,
    • “As electric bikes and scooters become an increasingly common way for young people to get around, injuries tied to the devices are climbing at an alarming rate.
    • “New research from Truveta, a health data and analytics firm supported by a coalition of 30 U.S. health systems, analyzed over 12,000 emergency room visits nationwide. The findings revealed that injury rates associated with e-bikes and e-scooters among children and adolescents surged 7.5-fold between January 2023 and May 2026, an increase compared to the rates seen in adults.
    • “ER visits related to e-bikes and e-scooters have increased by 671% for children and adolescents, said Karen Gilbert Farrar, PhD, lead researcher at Truveta. “Just to put that in context, that’s if one patient is was being seen in 2023, that’s now nearly eight patients in 2026.”
    • “The findings also highlight the severity of many crashes: more than one-third of injured patients suffered head or neck injuries. And nearly 7% of child and adolescent visits that were related to e-bike and e-scooter use involved traumatic brain injury, Farrar said.”
  • Health Day lets us know,
    • “E-cigarettes could be reshaping the future of cancer in the United States, by offering people a less-toxic option than smoking, a new study argues.
    • :Smokers are increasingly switching to vaping and other forms of nicotine use, researchers reported July 27 in the journal JNCI Cancer Spectrum.
    • :They’re also sticking with their vapes, rather than swapping back and forth with tobacco cigarettes, researchers found.
    • “Our results show that exclusive cigarette use is being replaced by exclusive use of other combustible products, mainly e-cigarettes, especially among young adults,” said lead researcher Kenneth Michael Cummings, in a news release.”
  • and
    • “Work stress could be eating away at the sleep of most middle-aged working folks, undermining their health, a new study says.
    • “Nearly 70% of a small group of people ages 50 to 66 experienced persistent sleepproblems, even though they had no history of sleep disorders, researchers reported July 28 in the journal Scientific Reports.
    • “Even more concerning, more than 9 out of 10 (92%) of the participants met the clinical threshold for a sleep disorder at least once during the yearlong study, researchers said.
    • “I was genuinely surprised by the sheer scale of sleep problems we uncovered in this otherwise undiagnosed group,” lead researcher Athanasios Tsanas said in a news release. He is a professor of digital health and data science at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K.”
  • BioPharma Dive tells us,
    • “A Novo Nordisk heart drug missed the main goal of a Phase 3 trial, failing to show it prevented heart attacks, strokes or cardiovascular death in people with hardened arteries or chronic kidney disease, the company said Friday.
    • “Called ziltivekimab, the drug is part of a sprawling clinical program involving three late-stage trials that have collectively enrolled more than 20,000 people. Two others, in people with heart failure or who’ve had an acute heart attack, are ongoing. Results are expected next year. They all aim to show lowering levels of an inflammatory protein called IL-6 can can reduce the risk of heart-related complications and death.
    • “Novo gained control of ziltivekimab through a 2020 acquisition of Corvidia Therapeutics, for which it paid $725 million up front and promised up to $2.1 billion in total payouts. Novo said it will take a “non-cash impairment charge” in the third quarter but will not need to change its operating profit forecasts.” 

From the U.S. healthcare business and artificial intelligence front,

  • Fierce Healthcare reports,
    • “Cigna executives offered investors a look at the progress the company has made in the rollout of its new Signature pharmacy benefits model, which moves away from traditional drug rebates.
    • “CEO Brian Evanko said during the company’s earnings call that the team is “making strong progress in the build-out” of the model. It will roll out to Cigna Healthcare’s fully insured plans in 2027, before a wider launch in 2028.
    • ‘In particular, the model is designed around the affordability of brand-name drug products, and the company projects that it could save members 30% per month on branded medications. Through Signature, tech platforms will surface the lowest price to the member at the pharmacy counter, even if that’s a cash-pay option or provided by a manufacturer’s direct-to-consumer programs.
    • “We see significant early interest from health plans and employers as we prepare for our broader market launch in 2028,” Evanko said. “At the same time, we’re adding value and winning business today, with 2027 representing one of our strongest selling seasons in recent years.”
  • and
    • “Alignment Healthcare delivered a strong second quarter, in what CEO John Kao said was supported by the deployment of its new artificial intelligence-powered stratification model.
    • “This advancement improved our ability to predict which members are going to be hospitalized,” Kao said. “Our model now accurately and dynamically predicts the 10% of members who will account for nearly 70% of hospital admissions over the next 30 days.” 
    • “Kao said the on the company’s Thursday earnings call it plans to “reinvest a portion” of savings to areas that produce “tangible, measurable returns,” including market expansions, branding and “deepening AI capabilities.
    • “Beyond its potential to unlock efficiencies in our cost structure, AI represents a meaningful opportunity to further enhance our care model and support providers,” Kao said. “Most importantly, our approach to AI is grounded in decades of clinical expertise and reinforces our commitment to high-quality care. This is further supported by a governance framework to ensure responsible use, human accountability, and equitable treatment of our members.” 
  • Healthcare Dive relates,
    • “Siemens Healthineers has struck a 10-year deal to support diagnostic imaging, cardiology and radiation oncology at Cleveland Clinic, the company said Thursday.
    • “Building on its 35-year relationship with the academic medical center, Siemens Healthineers will provide diagnostic imaging and therapeutic technologies, including magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, radiation oncology, interventional radiology and X-ray.
    • “Siemens Healthineers is expanding an existing team dedicated to Cleveland Clinic, adding on-site technicians and training personnel to its current group of more than 30 people.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review points out,
    • “A total of 438 urban hospitals closed across the U.S. between 2000 and June 2026, according to data shared with Becker’s from New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University’s Health Care Affordability Lab.
    • “Between 2001 and 2023, the period for which both openings and closures are fully tracked, urban hospitals posted a net gain of 11 nationally, with 396 openings and 385 closures. However, there were significant losses in individual states. New York lost a net 33 urban hospitals over that period, California lost 29 and Pennsylvania lost 24.
    • “The data covers general, short-term acute-care hospitals and excludes specialty facilities such as psychiatric, rehabilitation, children’s and VA hospitals. Urban and rural classifications follow the census-tract-level definition from the Health Resources & Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
    • “The tables [found in the article] show urban hospital net change by state from 2001 to 2023 and total urban closures by state from 2000 through June 2026. States with no urban hospital activity in the Yale dataset are not listed.
  • Fierce Pharma informs us,
    • “The small inflection point we noticed two weeks ago regarding Eli Lilly’s Foundayo does not appear to be a flash in the pan. Weekly total prescriptions for the small molecule reached 29,388, a new high for the oral GLP-1 receptor agonist after three weeks of consecutive growth, according to IQVIA data cited by Citi. 
    • “As IQVIA may be missing some scripts from telehealth channels, we will get a clearer picture of Foundayo’s launch progress when Lilly reports its second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Analysts at Jefferies have been modeling $71 million in U.S. sales for the quarter based on IQVIA data.
    • “Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill remains far ahead in the oral GLP-1 race with total scripts also hitting a new record of about 171,700, according to Citi. The number represents 1.1% growth from its previous best recorded during the prior week.
    • “Coincidentally, the entire GLP-1 class also saw its total scripts grow 1.1% sequentially across diabetes and obesity uses. Lilly’s Zepbound regained some lost ground with total scripts up 1.9% week over week. That’s compared to Wegovy, which now makes up 40.6% of the obesity market after a 0.2% sequential decline in total scripts.” 
  • Per Fierce Healthcare,
    • “WellSpan Health inked an expanded multi-year partnership with artificial intelligence company Hippocratic AI, which expands AI-powered capacity across the network.
    • “Through the update, Hippocratic AI’s generative AI agent—Ana—will expand from handling inbound calls and primary care appointment scheduling to post-discharge follow-up and chronic disease check-ins.
    • “Initial workflows will focus on closing care gaps through outreach to patients with missed imaging appointments, executives say. Every new use of the AI agent will follow governance, safety and implementation structures in coordination with WellSpan teams.
    • “WellSpan Health CEO Roxanna Gapstur, Ph.D, said in a statement the future of the industry will “be shaped by the organizations that build the culture, governance and clinical capabilities” to utilize AI responsibly at scale.
    • “At WellSpan, we’ve been intentional about creating this foundation, so innovation advances safely, strengthens clinical excellence and earns trust,” Gapstur said. “Our expanded partnership with Hippocratic AI is an investment in the future of care — one that expands access, supports our care teams and creates a more personalized experience for every patient we serve.”

Thursday report

Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC,

  • The New York Times reports,
    • “The Senate health ​committee on Thursday advanced the nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz, President Trump’s pick for director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for a full Senate vote.
    • “The committee’s Republican members and Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, all voted in favor of her candidacy, with the remaining Democrats opposed.” * * *
    • “The committee on Thursday also voted to ​advance ⁠the nomination of Sean Kaufman for assistant secretary for preparedness and response, a role that includes oversight of emergency measures during public health crises.”
  • The American Hospital Association News relates,
    • “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [(CMS)] July 30 released the fiscal year 2027 final rule for inpatient rehabilitation facilities. The rule will increase payments by 2.3% overall, which includes a 3.2% market basket update reduced by a 0.9 percentage point productivity adjustment. In addition, CMS updated the outlier threshold, which it says will increase overall payments by 0.4% in FY 2027.
    • “CMS also finalized two changes to the IRF coverage requirements. This includes a requirement that therapies be initiated within 36 hours of admission to the IRF and an initial interdisciplinary team meeting be held within four days of admission to the IRF. CMS did not finalize a third proposal that would have required the patient’s current functional status be documented on the preadmission screening. For the IRF Quality Reporting Program, CMS finalized a shortened timeframe for submitting program data.
    • “Changes are generally effective Oct. 1, 2026.”
  • Per a CMS fact sheet,
    • “On July 30, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule (CMS-1851-F) that would update Medicare hospice payments and the aggregate cap amount for fiscal year (FY) 2027 under existing statutory and regulatory requirements.” * * *
    • “For FY 2027, CMS updated the hospice payment rate by 2.3% (an estimated increase of $755 million in payments from FY 2026). This figure results from the finalized 3.2% inpatient hospital market basket percentage increase reduced, as required by law, by a finalized 0.9 percentage point productivity adjustment. The finalized FY 2027 rates for hospices that do not submit required quality data information include the finalized FY 2027 hospice payment update percentage of 2.3% minus four percentage points as required by law, which would result in a 1.7% reduction over the previous year’s payment rate. These finalized payment rates reflect the most accurate, updated data available on the cost of goods, services, and labor.
    • “Hospice payments are subject to a statutory aggregate cap limiting the overall payments made to a hospice annually. The finalized hospice cap amount for FY 2027 is $36,174.75 (FY 2026 cap amount of $35,361.44 increased by the FY 2027 hospice payment update percentage of 2.3%).” 
  • Beckers Hospital Review shares 11 things to know about these new CMS rules.
  • U.S. Office of Personnel Management, writing in Substack, added another post to this Secrets of OPM blog titled “Plans are good, Execution is better.”
    • “Last year, I wrote about how the federal government needed to adopt a more disciplined approach to workforce planning. Every successful organization develops a thoughtful plan for the talent it needs to accomplish its mission. The federal government should be no different.
    • “Today, we’re taking the next step.
    • “The guidance OPM has issued to agencies on Annual Staffing Plans is about much more than compliance with a new planning process. It is about changing how the federal government thinks about hiring. Rather than defaulting to last year’s staffing levels or treating hiring as a series of isolated decisions, agencies will build comprehensive staffing strategies that begin with a simple question: “What workforce do we need to best serve the American people?””
  • Per an OPM news release,
    • “The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) today issued an interim final rule removing references to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP) from OPM’s federal personnel regulations, bringing the agency’s regulations into conformity with the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel’s June 9, 2026, legal opinion concluding the Uniform Guidelines are unlawful and unconstitutional by encouraging race-conscious decision-making via “disparate impact” liability.
    • “The rule removes UGESP regulatory provisions while preserving longstanding federal requirements that employment practices be job-related, professionally developed, based on sound job analysis, and administered without prohibited discrimination.” * * *
    • “Federal hiring should be based on merit, qualifications, and the ability to perform the job,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said. “This rule ensures OPM’s regulations reflect legal guidance while preserving the rigorous, job-related standards that help agencies recruit and hire the most qualified workforce in service to the American people.”
    • “The interim final rule is effective upon publication in the Federal Register. OPM will accept public comments for 60 days before determining whether to revise, withdraw, or finalize the rule.”
  • NextGov adds,
    • “The General Services Administration on Wednesday celebrated the graduation of 71 U.S. Digital Corps fellows, marking the largest graduating class since the program’s inception. Those graduates updated the FedRAMP website, helped streamline Agriculture Department environmental reviews and supported other technology projects during their stints in the federal government.
    • “This government has starved for talent, for people who understand how to do all the things that we want to do to deliver better,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said during graduation remarks.
    • “Some of the graduates of the two-year fellowship program are continuing civil service while others are headed to the private sector.”
  • Tammy Flanagan, writing in Govexec, explains “Why time, not timing, is the biggest retirement advantage for federal employees.”
    • “A look at decades of market shifts and TSP data shows the biggest driver of retirement wealth isn’t picking the right stock. It’s starting early, contributing consistently and letting compounding do its work.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted 10-3 Thursday for Replimune Group’s experimental melanoma therapy, after a contentious meeting in which experts raised doubts about whether the company’s data and trial design could be trusted to show the skin-cancer drug works.
    • “Thursday’s recommendation is the latest turn in a regulatory saga that has stretched nearly two years.” * * * 
    • “Thursday’s meeting came a day after another closely watched advisory session, in which FDA advisers voted against Capricor Therapeutics’ cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy—a rejection that, like Replimune’s, followed a prior FDA denial.” 
  • MedTech Dive relates,
    • “Artificial intelligence is here to stay at the FDA, but its integration and evolution may not be a straight line now that one of its biggest proponents, former commissioner Marty Makary, has stepped down.” * * *
    • “Acting commissioner Kyle Diamantas said AI remains a top priority for the FDA. Still, recent high-level departures, including MakaryJeremy Walsh, chief artificial intelligence officer, and Sridhar Mantha, acting chief information officer, have raised questions about the future of AI implementation.
    • “It’s unclear now what the leadership and governance structure are around FDA-wide efforts,” said Tala Fakhouri, chief artificial intelligence and regulatory strategy officer at Parexel, and a former FDA AI policy official.”

No Surprises Act news,

  • Beckers Payer Issues reports,
    • “Another health insurance CEO is taking aim at the No Surprises Act’s arbitration system.
    • “We do support the overall strategic intent of consumer protection from surprise billing. However, we’re seeing some clear abuses of the IDR vehicle in practice,” Cigna Group President and CEO Brian Evanko said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call July 30, adding that the system is seeing “unsustainable volume levels, much of which is concentrated amongst a small number of providers.” 
    • “On July 22, a Wall Street Journal analysis of CMS data put 2025 arbitration payouts at nearly $15 billion, up from $4.08 billion in 2024, with arbitration firms collecting about $1.3 billion in fees. On the earnings call, Mr. Evanko referenced last year’s payout figure but said the impact “has been manageable” within Cigna’s insurance business.”

From the judicial front,

  • Fierce Healthcare reports,
    • “A federal judge has rejected a request from 26 states for a preliminary injunction in the Trump administration’s rollout of work requirements in Medicaid.
    • “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized implementation guidelines for states in June, with the eligibility requirements set to take effect on Jan. 1. States have until Aug. 31 to communicate with enrollees about the impacts of the changes.
    • “In an order issued Wednesday, Massachusetts District Judge Richard Stearns wrote that the states did not prove that establishing the systems necessary to make the eligibility determinations would cause them irreparable harm, as CMS said it would reimburse them for 90% of the costs for setting up those mechanisms.
    • :However, he said that the order does not reflect the court’s opinion on the merits of the broader litigation, which challenge provisions of the rule under the Administrative Procedure Act. Making a determination on that, as it questions whether officials hewed closely to Congressional intent in regulating the rollout of the requirements, requires a more complete picture.”
  • Healthcare Dive relates,
    • “The Federal Trade Commission is suing Hims & Hers [in a California federal court], alleging the telehealth company illegally shared sensitive health information with advertisers and misled customers about its billing practices. 
    • “The agency says California-based Hims & Hers made it difficult for users to cancel subscriptions, charged patients for medications before they consulted with a provider and shared their health data with third-party advertising platforms like Meta and Snap. 
    • “Hims & Hers called the FTC’s claims “baseless,” saying in a Wednesday statement that the agency “contorts the law to try to manufacture claims.”
  • Per a Justice Department news release,
    • “Access DX Laboratory, located in Houston, Texas, its former CEO Michael Stewart, and Florida businessman Harold Shatz, have each entered into settlements and will pay a combined total of $36.4 million to the United States to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by paying kickbacks and billing Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary genetic testing.
    • “The United States alleged that, from January 2018 through January 2020, Access DX, Stewart, and Shatz paid kickbacks to marketers in return for referrals of patients for genetic testing, unbundled billing codes for genetic testing, paid telemedicine providers for false and fraudulent doctors’ orders, and submitted and caused the submission of false claims for genetic testing.” * * *
    • Except to the extent admitted by Stewart and Shatz in their plea agreements, the claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.” 

From the public health and medical/Rx research front,

  • The AP reports,
    • “A first-of-its-kind U.S. study suggests invasive mold infections may be an underappreciated — and potentially deadly — threat.
    • “The researchers detected about 450 cases in Atlanta-area hospitals over five years. About a third of the patients died in the hospital.
    • “The findings, published this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, come from an attempt to better gauge how common these kinds of illnesses are. The government does not require doctors to report the illnesses.
    • “It’s kind of the first time we’ve had an estimate like this,” said the CDC’s Dr. Jeremy Gold, the study’s senior author.”
  • Per a Department of Health and Human Services news release,
    • “U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today announced the launch of The Real Food Show, a new cooking series designed to help Americans prepare healthy, affordable meals using real, everyday ingredients.
    • “More than a cooking show, The Real Food Show is a national initiative that empowers families to make healthy eating practical, approachable, and affordable. Each episode combines simple recipes with the science behind them, translating the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans into meals that Americans can prepare in their own kitchens.”
    • “Visit The Real Food Show webpage for more details.”
  • Radiology Business tells us,
    • “Adult CT radiation doses have decreased substantially over the last decade in the U.S., according to new research published Tuesday. 
    • “About 10 years have passed since data underlying the most recent national benchmarks for radiation dosing were collected. This underscores the need for updated reference values, as these guidelines may not reflect new advances in scanner technology, reconstruction methods and protocol changes, experts write in RSNA’s Radiology
    • “Researchers recently aimed to address this information gap, analyzing adult CT acquisitions performed across U.S. facilities in 2025. They discovered clear progress, with CT diagnostic reference levels declining an average of nearly 22% since 2014.
    • “The magnitude and consistency of these reductions across examination categories suggest that such advances have translated into measurable, population-level dose reductions in routine clinical imaging in the United States,” Kalpana M. Kanal, PhD, with the Department of Radiology at the University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues wrote July 28.”
  • The July 30 issue of NIH Research Matters covers the following topics:
    • Tracking diets via wastewater
      • “Measuring DNA from food in wastewater could provide snapshots of dietary patterns.
      • “Monitoring these patterns could be a powerful tool for informing nutrition policy.” 
    • Lung tumor signals may tamp down food intake
      • “Researchers found that a high-fat diet in mice amplifies nerve signals between certain lung cancers and the brain, leading to reduced appetite and weight loss.
      • “If confirmed in further studies, the results could inform strategies to improve nutrition and survival in certain patients with cancer.”
    • Bacteria share proteins to survive antibiotics
      • “Researchers found that some bacteria share proteins that help others survive antibiotics.
      • “The study suggests a novel approach that may help treat persistent bacterial infections.”
  • MedPage Today informs us,
    • “Consuming less sugar before birth and during the first 1 to 2 years of life was tied to a lower risk of dementia decades later, U.K. Biobank data showed.
    • “The study used the abrupt end of World War II rationing as a natural experiment to test whether early-life sugar exposure was associated with late-life dementia.
    • “Previous research has linked early-life sugar rationing to less risk of diabetes and hypertension in adults and better cardiovascular outcomes.”
  • Health Day adds,
    • “Want to give your tot a brain boost when it comes to learning language?
    • “Maintain eye contact as much as possible when you’re talking to them, a new study suggests.
    • “Eye contact helps a baby decide what is important, acting as a switch that triggers synchronization of their brain waves with those of the speaker, researchers reported recently in the journal Nature Communications.”
  • Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News lets us know,
    • “An international team of researchers has identified multiple new genetic risk factors associated with fibromyalgia, a syndrome characterized by widespread pain and tenderness, fatigue, and problems with sleep, memory and mood.
    • :The team analyzed genetic data from more than 2.5 million adults, of which 55,000 were fibromyalgia patients. They identified DNA sequence variants in 26 regions of the genome that affect the risk of developing fibromyalgia. Many of the genes implicated in these regions are involved in brain and nerve function.
    • “The results provide the strongest evidence yet that fibromyalgia is primarily a nervous system disorder rather than an autoimmune disease, as has long been debated. “This work changes how we think about fibromyalgia at a fundamental level,” said Michael Wainberg, PhD, an investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, part of Sinai Health, and the University of Toronto. “For decades, patients have been dismissed or told their pain is simply psychological. Our findings confirm the condition has a clear biological basis.”
    • “Weinberg is co-senior author of the researchers’ published paper in Nature Medicine, titled “The genetic architecture of fibromyalgia across 2.5 million individuals,” in which they concluded, “This study provides robust genetic evidence defining fibromyalgia as a central nervous system disorder, thereby establishing a biological framework for its complex pathophysiology and extensive clinical comorbidities.”
  • Fierce Pharma points out,
    • “Investors anxiously waiting for Bristol Myers Squibb’s key Alzheimer’s disease psychosis readout for Cabenfy will have to wait a little longer. The company has once again delayed the expected phase 3 data from its Adept trial program, even as it delivered a group-wide quarterly beat that’s driving a significant forecast raise. 
    • “Rather than readouts in 2026, BMS now expects data from the three Adept trials to arrive beginning in early 2027 and be “spread across the year,” CEO Chris Boerner, Ph.D., said on the company’s earnings call Thursday.
    • “The delay was attributed to slower enrollment in the Adept-2 and Adept-4 studies and slower relapse event accrual in Adept-1, Boerner explained. Adept-1 could undergo an interim analysis as early as later this year, and BMS also plans to share safety and efficacy data this year from the trial’s open-label lead-in portion, he added.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • Healthcare Dive reports,
    • “Cigna’s employer-sponsored plans reaped higher profits than expected in the second quarter after hiking premiums, spurring the company to raise its earnings outlook for 2026.
    • Cigna results released Thursday are a relief for investors worried about broader pressures in the employer-sponsored market, which covers the majority of U.S. adults and has been a buoy for insurers slammed with higher spending in government programs in recent years.” * * *
    • “Cigna’s health services division Evernorth — which includes Express Scripts, one of the largest pharmacy benefit managers in the U.S. — brought in $1.7 billion in operating income in the quarter, down 2% year over year despite revenue growth.”
  • Modern Healthcare adds,
    • “The weight-loss drug boom is beginning to show signs of a slowdown as employers and insurers pull back on coverage, signaling the market could be entering a more restrained phase after years of breakneck expansion.
    • “In the past few months, growth in prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs for weight loss like Novo Nordisk A/S’ Wegovy and Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zepbound have moderated, according to Cigna Group Chief Executive Officer Brian Evanko. The insurer’s unit that manages drug benefits has noted coverage declines and slower utilization growth compared to prior periods, executives said during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts Thursday.”
  • Optum Rx, writing in LinkedIn, discusses “how plan sponsors can stay ahead of the latest drug cost trends.”
  • Fierce Healthcare relates,
    • “Teladoc Health trimmed its 2026 revenue outlook as its virtual behavioral health unit, BetterHelp, faces revenue pressure with consumer demand for insurance-covered services outpacing clinical capacity.
    • “Teladoc shares fell more than 27% on Thursday following the company’s release of its second-quarter financial performance report on Wednesday.
    • “The company is shifting from subscription to visit-based revenue models, while also transitioning its virtual mental health business to accept insurance, moving from a cash-pay model to an in-network, insurance-covered model. The company is making “considerable progress” in building the insurance offering, including establishing a baseline national footprint a year after launching its first state, Teladoc Health CEO Chuck Divita told analysts and investors on a call Wednesday. 
    • “We have contracted for over $150 million in-network lives and credentialed more than 8,000 mental health professionals for the network at this point,” he said.”
  • and
    • “Nearly three-quarters of patients with gambling disorder achieved clinically meaningful symptom improvement through Birches Health, a new study finds.
    • “The peer-reviewed outcomes study was recently published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. It was a retrospective analysis of 1,305 adults treated by Birches between mid-2024 and mid-2026. 
    • “Birches, a virtual provider for digital addictions, says the study is the largest real-world dataset on virtual gambling disorder treatment in the U.S.” ‘
  • Beckers Hospital Review tells us,
    • “Forbes rated the country’s hospitals state by state for 2026, with 259 earning the top mark of five stars.
    • “The Forbes Top Hospitals by State list, published July 14, draws on the national Forbes Top Hospitals 2026 ratings, which score general acute-care hospitals on measures pulled from the CMS Provider Data Catalog across four areas: patient outcomes (weighted at 55%), hospital best practices (20%), value (15%) and patient experience (10%). Each hospital lands on a single Forbes Overall Hospital Quality Rating of one to five stars.
    • “The article includes] the top of that scale: every hospital awarded five stars for overall quality, grouped by state. The five-star tier spans 42 states, ranging from a single hospital in states such as Alabama, Delaware and Wyoming to 19 in Wisconsin. Eight states — Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont — along with the District of Columbia had no hospital reach five stars.”
  • Radiolology Business informs us,
    • “A new analysis from Definitive Healthcare pinpoints [and the article lists] the 10 largest imaging center corporations in the U.S., based on location count. 
    • “RadNet tops the list with approximately 383 outposts at the time of the analysis, followed by the US Oncology Network (141), a chain of independent cancer docs backed by McKesson. Definitive Healthcare, a publicly traded commercial-intelligence firm, based the findings off data from its ImagingView product, which includes info from more than 22,000 centers. 
    • “As demand for outpatient imaging continues to rise, larger imaging companies are expanding through acquisitions, new site development, and care models focused on improving access and convenience for patients,” Definitive Healthcare said in an update posted July 23. “Several factors are contributing to this growth, including advances in imaging technology, increased demand for preventive diagnostic screenings, and an aging U.S. population.”
  • Fierce Healthcare notes,
    • “Health tech company Stellarus announced Thursday the launch of an artificial intelligence-driven copilot geared towards helping health plan customer service representatives.
    • ‘The solution—dubbed Customer Service Representative (CSR) Chat—provides representatives with real-time guidance and contextual support during live interactions, surfacing relevant information, policy and recommended responses directly in workflows. 
    • ‘Stellarus president and CEO Vanessa Colella told Fierce Healthcare in an interview that “unsustainable healthcare costs” have been dominating conversations about the American healthcare system.
    • “It’s not about talking about someday it might not be working,” Colella said. “It is not working today. One of the places that it’s not working is cost. And another place it’s not working is member experience.”
    • “The solution hopes to address both core issues through administrative burden reduction and allowing representatives and members “to have the conversation that matters,” according to Colella.”

Midweek report

Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC

  • Per Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services fact sheets
    • “On July 29, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule to update Medicare payment policies and rates for Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPFs) under the IPF Prospective Payment System (PPS) (CMS-1847-F) for fiscal year (FY) 2027. CMS is publishing this final rule consistent with its statutory authority to update Medicare payment policies for IPFs annually. 
    • “This fact sheet discusses the provisions of the final rule, including annual updates to the prospective payment rates, the outlier threshold, the wage index, and associated impact analysis. In addition, the rule finalizes a policy effective for FY 2028 (October 1, 2027) to limit outlier payments at the facility level to no more than 20% of an IPF’s total IPF PPS payments in a year, for IPFs with at least 50 stays per year. For the IPF Quality Reporting Program, CMS is removing two measures from the program, as well as implementing a standardized IPF patient assessment instrument.
    • “For FY 2027, CMS is updating the IPF PPS payment rates by 2.3%, based on the 2021-based IPF market basket increase of 3.2% less a 0.9 percentage point productivity adjustment. Additionally, CMS is updating the outlier threshold so that estimated outlier payments remain at 2% of total IPF PPS payments. Total estimated payments to IPFs would increase by 2.3%, or $60 million, in FY 2027, relative to IPF payments in FY 2026.”
  • and 
    • “On July 29, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule for updates to Medicare payment policies and rates for skilled nursing facilities under the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Prospective Payment System (PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2027. CMS is publishing this final rule consistent with the legal requirements to update Medicare payment policies for SNFs annually. This fact sheet discusses the final rule’s provisions.
    • “For FY 2027, CMS finalized updating SNF PPS rates by 2.4% based on the final SNF market basket of 3.3%, reduced by a 0.9% productivity adjustment, for an estimated increase of $882.74 million in aggregate payments to SNFs.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review points out twelve things to know about these rules.
  • The American Hospital Association News relates,
    • “The Health and Human Services Secretary today announced that dozens of insurers, medical societies, healthcare providers and behavioral health experts have pledged to strengthen the nation’s behavioral health system by advancing best practices aimed at improving mental health and addiction treatment. The pledge commits participants to promoting timely access, improving quality measurement and accountability, supporting patient-centered recovery services and expanding whole-person treatment that addresses behavioral and physical health needs. HHS said the initiative aligns with the administration’s broader efforts to address addiction and mental illness and improve long-term patient outcomes.” 
  • Federal News Network clears up common misconceptions about federal retirement benefits.
    • “Misconception: Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) go away at retirement, or become more expensive.
    • Fact: Under certain eligibility requirements, federal employees can continue their FEHB coverage into retirement. These requirements include enrollment in FEHB for at least five consecutive years leading up to, and having coverage on, the retirement date. It is important to note that qualified spouses, dependent children, and children with disabilities can be covered without meeting this five-year rule. Employees become classified as annuitants upon retiring, at which point the government will continue to cover about 72% of the FEHB premium.
    • In addition, retirees can also enroll in Medicare parts A and B, offering nearly comprehensive coverage, with Medicare as the primary payer and FEHB as secondary. To reduce costs, some retirees opt for a basic FEHB plan.”
    • “Misconception: Spouses will automatically continue to be covered by FEHB into retirement
    • Fact: This is the biggest caveat about survivor’s benefits: If survivors were on the federal retiree’s health insurance plan, that health insurance will cease if there is no survivor’s benefit. Any amount of survivor’s benefit will continue the health insurance plan, so prospective retirees and their spouses should speak with a federal retirement consultant, and consider the holistic picture of their assets, the spouse’s income, their needs and budget, life insurance, and whether they have any additional financial obligations, like debt or a child in college.”
    • “Misconception: Survivor’s benefits are automatic and free
    • “Fact: Federal employees will need to make some decisions about survivor’s benefits on their retirement application. The pension is the main place where retirees need to consider their options along with their potential beneficiaries — these will primarily be spouses, except in a few special circumstances. Each of these options comes with a cost, in the form of a monthly percentage deducted from the overall pension. The options and percentages vary between the Federal Employees Retirement System and the Civil Service Retirement System.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review tells us,
    • “Federal policy changes could reshape pharmacy reimbursement, drug pricing and hospital operations in 2027, according to a new Vizient outlook. The report, published July 27, highlights four pharmacy developments health systems should monitor as they plan for the year ahead.
    • “The four policy developments:
      • “340B outpatient drug reimbursement: CMS has proposed reducing reimbursement for 340B-acquired drugs from average sales price plus 6% to ASP-33.4%. 
      • “340B remedy offset: CMS has proposed increasing the offset from -0.5% to -3%, a change the agency estimates would reduce payments by $2.3 billion in 2027.
      • “Section 232 tariffs: New pharmaceutical tariffs and ongoing investigations into medical devices could affect supply chains and costs.
      • “Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program: CMS has issued draft guidance for implementing negotiated prices in 2028, including drugs covered under Medicare Parts B and D.

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • Per a FDA news release,
    • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today licensed Ezplaz Freeze Dried Plasma (FDP), making it the first freeze-dried plasma product licensed for use in the United States. Ezplaz is intended for transfusion in adult patients who need plasma and for whom other plasma products are not available.
    • “Patients experiencing life-threatening bleeding in combat zones, disasters, rural settings, or other austere environments may now have faster access to plasma when conventional frozen plasma is unavailable,” said Karim Mikhail, B. Pharm., M.S., Acting Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). “This milestone action addresses an important unmet medical need — particularly for our military personnel and others who may be far from traditional hospital infrastructure.”
    • “Ezplaz is a freeze-dried (lyophilized) plasma product derived from a single unit of fresh frozen plasma collected from FDA-licensed blood establishments. It is available in Group AB and Group A with low-titer anti-B blood types, chosen to mitigate risk of giving to patients in emergencies before their blood type is determined.”
  • Contemporary OB/GYN relates,
    • “On July 29, 2026, the FDA approved norelgestromin and ethinyl estradiol transdermal system (Gwyn Lo; Viatris Inc.) as a once-weekly combined hormonal contraceptive (CHC) patch with a low dose of estrogen for women of childbearing potential with a body mass index (BMI) below 30 kg/m², the company announced in a news release.1
    • “The approval was granted under the FDA’s 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway and was supported by results from the phase 3 Luminous Study (NCT05139121).Norelgestromin and ethinyl estradiol delivers norelgestromin 220 mcg/day and ethinyl estradiol 20 mcg/day over each 7-day wear interval. The patch, which is reversible and non-invasive, is applied once weekly for 3 consecutive weeks, followed by 1 patch-free week.” * * *
    • “Viatris expects norelgestromin and ethinyl estradiol to be commercially available later in 2026.”
  • and
    • Natural Cycles has received its sixth FDA clearance, this time for an updated version of the algorithm underlying its FDA-cleared birth control app. The company described the update as combining statistical modeling with machine learning trained on real-world fertility data to generate more individualized fertility predictions for users, according to a news release published July 27, 2026.”
  • Cancer Network tells us,
    • “The FDA has granted fast track designation to ISM6331, an AI-designed pan-TEAD inhibitor, for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma whose disease has progressed on or after prior anti–PD-1 antibody therapy, with or without anti–CTLA-4 antibody therapy, and platinum-based chemotherapy, according to a news release from the developer, Insilico Medicine.”
  • Cardiovascular Business points out,
    • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted de novo market clearance for the first and only biomarker technology to directly see and quantity coronary inflammation from routine coronary CT angiography (CCTA)
    • “The CaRi-Heart technology from Caristo Diagnostics has been heralded by numerous cardiac CT experts as a potential paradigm shift in cardiology. It is the first technology that can visualize and clearly quantify coronary inflammation using fat attenuation index (FAI) scores. This helps care teams estimate the residual risk of heart attacks in patients who otherwise appear to be managed well on optimal medical therapy.
    • “We’ve spent decades building the scientific case that coronary inflammation is an important contributor to the development and progression of coronary plaque,” Ron Blankstein, MD, director of cardiac CT at Brigham and Women’s and a former Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) president, said in a statement. “And now for the first time, clinicians can specifically measure coronary inflammation, obtaining a more complete picture of cardiovascular risk compared to standard CCTA, or calcium scoring alone. It is exciting to see Caristo’s long-awaited, pioneering solution available in the U.S.”
  • STAT News informs us.
    • “A group of outside experts convened Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration concluded clinical data for a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy from Capricor Therapeutics did not provide “substantial evidence” of efficacy.  
    • “The vote was 9-3, sending to the FDA a recommendation that the Capricor treatment, called deramiocel, should not be approved. 
    • “The FDA is not required to adhere to the expert panel’s stance, but it typically does. The agency review is still underway with a decision expected by Aug. 22. 
    • “The negative vote came at the end of an all-day meeting during which disputed results from a Phase 3 clinical trial were discussed and debated. Capricor’s presentation highlighted an analysis showing deramiocel preserved upper-arm function and staved off the heart failure most patients with Duchenne eventually experience.
    • “The FDA countered with a critique of the data that reached opposite conclusions — deramiocel was unable to separate from placebo at all. The agency also spent a good deal of time during Wednesday’s meeting calling out Capricor, saying it made major changes to the study’s statistical analysis plan that degraded the robustness of the data and made even seemingly positive outcomes hard to interpret.” 
  • Beckers Hospital Review notes,
    • “The FDA has published 17 revised draft product-specific guidances for peptide products, updating its recommendations for the development and assessment of certain generic peptide drugs.” * * *
    • “The FDA said the updates provide recommendations in five areas: submission of recombinantly, synthetically or semi-synthetically produced peptides as abbreviated new drug applications, innate immune response testing, impurity thresholds, higher order structure assessment and biological activity assessment.
    • “The FDA also said it is withdrawing its May 2021 guidance, ANDAs for Certain Highly Purified Synthetic Peptide Drug Products That Refer to Listed Drugs of rDNA Origin, because it no longer reflects the agency’s current scientific thinking. The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research plans to revise that guidance this year.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front

  • The Washington Post reports,
    • “About 12,000 pounds of smoked bacon imported from Canada were recalled because of lack of proper reinspection before entering the country, the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said.
    • “The bacon from Maple Leaf Foods was shipped to grocery distributors and retailers in Idaho, Oregon and Washington state. FSIS inspects imported products for packaging, documentation, condition and contamination.” * * *
    • “There are currently no confirmed cases of illness or injuries due to the products, FSIS said.”
  • The American Hospital Association News tells us,
    • “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday reported 18,207 confirmed or suspected cases of cyclosporiasis across the U.S. from the current outbreak. The agency said it is investigating multiple case clusters, including an outbreak impacting nine states that is linked to iceberg lettuce. A July 17 Food and Drug Administration notice said that Taylor Farms recalled iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico that was distributed to 27 states, due to the potential of being contaminated with cyclospora.” 
  • The New York Times lets us know about “Nine Things Experts Wish You’d Do in Midlife to Increase Longevity.”
    • “How you treat your body and brain in your midlife years, loosely defined as 40 to 60, can hugely influence how you age in the decades to come.
    • “The seeds for many age-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia, are sown in middle age, so it’s important to start thinking about prevention early. And it takes a lifetime of healthy habits, not just a few weeks, to move the needle on your longevity.
    • “Midlife is the ideal time to make changes, not only to benefit you in the present, but also in the future,” said Margie Lachman, a psychology professor at Brandeis University and the author of “Primetime: A New Vision for Midlife.”
    • “After all, she added, “What happens in midlife doesn’t stay in midlife.”
    • “We spoke with experts about some small habits that can make a big difference.”
  • Health Day tells us,
    • “Childhood obesity can be effectively treated through a family-based program provided through their local pediatrician, a new clinical trial says.
    • “About 42% of kids in the program lost enough weight to improve their heart health and lower their diabetes risk within a year and a half, researchers reported July 27 in JAMA Pediatrics.
    • “The program teaches families how to establish healthy eating and exercise habits, including positive reinforcement and supportive routines, researchers said.
    • “Our results show that an established, effective obesity treatment for children and adolescents can be successfully delivered in their pediatrician’s office,” lead researcher Amanda Staiano said in a news release. She is director of the Pediatric Obesity and Health Behavior Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University.”
  • Drug Topics informs us,
    • “Alcohol use, binge drinking, and heavy drinking have all increased significantly among pregnant women in the US from 2011 to 2024, according to a JAMA study. Likewise, with no end in sight for the trends in their findings, study authors consider them “concerning,” highlighting the need to address the growing trends among expecting mothers and their alcohol consumption.
    • “It is well established that alcohol is a teratogen, and numerous existing guidelines advise women to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy and while breastfeeding,” wrote the authors of a study in Drug and Alcohol Review. “However, many women consume alcohol in pregnancy even after learning they are pregnant. Worldwide, approximately 10% of women in the general population consume alcohol in pregnancy, although the European region has the highest rate of consumption (25%).
    • “The JAMA analysis revealed that from 2011 to 2024, the relative increase in current alcohol use among pregnant individuals reached 59%, and binge drinking rose by 77% and heavy drinking surged by a startling 166%. These absolute increases, 5.4%, 2%, and 1.2%, respectively, represent a significant shift in behavior that researchers indicate has no clear sign of reversal.”
  • Genetic Engineering and BioTechnology New lets us know,
    • “Engineers and neuroscientists at the University of California (UC) San Diego have developed a soft, wearable fingertip patch that continuously tracks a Parkinson’s disease (PD) patient’s levodopa medication levels by measuring chemicals in their sweat, with no batteries required. Tests in healthy volunteers and in Parkinson’s disease patients showed that measurements generated using the device were comparable to those obtained by standard laboratory blood tests.
    • “The wearable device offers a way to continuously track real-time concentrations of levodopa in the body and could enable doctors to precisely customize daily medication schedules for patients at home.
    • “The research was led by Tamoghna Saha, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Joseph Wang, DSc, professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Saha is co-first author of the team’s published paper in PNAS titled “A wearable patch for continuous levodopa monitoring in sweat: Towards exertion and power-free pharmacodynamic assessment in Parkinson’s disease.” In their paper the authors wrote in summary, “Overall, our easy-to-use, energy-efficient wearable supports real-time, stimulation-free monitoring, potentially enabling at-home dosage adjustments and paving the way for future autonomous closed-loop L-dopa therapeutic system development.”
  • Per an Institute for Clinical and Economic Review news release,
    • “The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) today released a Draft Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of tavapadon (AbbVie Inc.) for Parkinson’s Disease.
    • “This preliminary draft marks the midpoint of ICER’s eight-month process of assessing this treatment, and the findings within this document should not be interpreted to be ICER’s final conclusions.
    • “On August 5, as part of ICER’s Early Insights Webinar Series, ICER’s Chief Scientific Officer and Director of Health Technology Assessment Methods and Engagement, Dan Ollendorf, PhD, MPH, will present the initial findings of this draft report. This webinar is exclusively available to all users of the ICER Analytics platform; registration for the webinar is now open.”
  • Per STAT News,
    • “For decades, efforts to develop non-opioid pain drugs were marked by failure. But what was once a graveyard of drug discovery is quickly turning into a race for a multibillion-dollar market, with Latigo Biotherapeutics publishing positive data on Wednesday for a therapy meant to rival a Vertex medicine already on the market.
    • “The startup’s Phase 2 trial enrolled 343 patients who’d gotten tummy tuck surgery; they were randomized to receive a high or low dose of Latigo’s experimental pill, a placebo, or a combination of acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Those given either dose of Latigo’s oral drug, LTG-001, showed statistically significant pain relief compared to placebo after 48 hours. And while participants in all groups had the option to use the opioid oxycodone if they needed additional pain management, those on a high dose of Latigo’s therapy were significantly less likely to do so than participants on placebo.” * * *
    • “The biotech plans to start a Phase 3 study later this year of patients who’ve had bunion removal surgery, with results expected in the second half of 2027.”

From the U.S. healthcare business and articifical intelligence fronts,

  • Beckers Payer Issues reports,
    • “Humana reported a $694 million profit for the second quarter, up more than 27% year over year, according to its July 29 earnings report.
    • “Revenue reached $40.8 billion, a 26% increase from the same period in 2025, driven by Medicare membership growth, higher per-member Medicare Advantage and standalone prescription drug plan premiums from increases in benchmark funding and the Part D direct subsidy, and a payer-agnostic CenterWell client base. Star ratings headwinds persisted.
    • “Total Medicare membership reached 11.1 million, up from 8.2 million in the comparable quarter. Total medical membership was 17.9 million, an increase from 14.8 million.
    • “The company’s benefit ratio was 91.1%, up from 89.7% in the second quarter of 2025, spurred by the star ratings revenue issue, new individual MA members with higher benefit ratios and an expectation of lower favorable prior period development. However, MA recontracting, pricing and clinical excellence efforts offset that growth.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review notes,
    • “Jaewon Ryu, MD, the founding CEO of Risant Health, will step down, and Dale Maxwell has been named interim CEO.
    • “According to a July 29 news release, Dr. Ryu made the decision to leave the role to focus on his family. Mr. Maxwell, former president and CEO of Albuquerque, N.M.-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services, will serve as interim CEO while the Risant Health board conducts a national search for a permanent successor.
    • “Washington, D.C.-based Risant Health is a nonprofit created by Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente to expand value-based care by partnering with community health systems. As the organization’s inaugural CEO, Dr. Ryu built its leadership team and operating model and oversaw the additions of Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger, which operates 10 hospital campuses, and Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health, which has five hospitals and more than 150 locations.
    • “Jaewon has been instrumental in turning the vision for Risant Health into reality,” Greg Adams, chair and CEO of Kaiser Permanente and chair of the Risant Health board, said in the release. Mr. Adams said Dr. Ryu built an exceptional leadership team and positioned the organization to expand value-based care.”
  • Fierce Healthcare relates,
    • “AI doctor startup Doctronic aims to broaden its reach beyond adult primary care by acquiring text-based pediatric care platform Summer Health.
    • “The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
    • “Fast-growing Doctronic is an AI-native primary care provider that has supported 30 million health encounters in just two years. It offers a proprietary AI doctor and nationwide network of licensed clinicians delivering personalized medical guidance and video visits for $39, according to the company.
    • “The startup offers a free personal AI doctor via chatbot to help navigate symptoms and answer medical questions and can connect users with a licensed physician through a virtual visit. Doctronic, available in all 50 states, is being tested by the state of Utah to refill prescriptions as part of a pilot program.”
  • and
    • “Hospitals should plan for their supply chain expenses to climb in 2027, with the prices for indirect spending categories like IT, construction and even food projected to grow at an even faster rate than those for drugs, Vizient warned in its most recent forecast report. 
    • Vizient’s latest twice-yearly report mapped out overall supply chain price inflation of 3.39% for 2027, an increase of 0.61 percentage points compared to the forecast it released in February for the 12-month period beginning in H2 2026. 
    • “The primary culprits, Vizient research and intelligence director Jeff King told Fierce Healthcare, are AI demand and elevated costs of logistics and energy that are being felt across the world.”
  • and
    • “Alongside an update to its 2026 ratings, national nonprofit Leapfrog Group announced Monday the launch of an expanded ambulatory service center (ASC) reporting program. The expanded Leapfrog ASC Public Reporting Program, first unveiled in April, reports safety and quality information for facilities nationwide. More than 3,900 ASCs are now included in the 2026 ratings, along with more than 2,400 hospitals—which the nonprofit says is the highest level of participation in its 26-year history.”
  • Fierce Pharma points out,
    • “With increased sales of its newer drugs compensating for declining revenues from its multiple sclerosis (MS) portfolio, Biogen is once again positioned for a “growth story,” CEO Chris Viehbacher said Wednesday during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
    • “To that end, Biogen reported revenue of $2.74 billion for the period, marking its highest quarterly haul since Q3 of 2021. With the result, the company flipped its 2026 revenue guidance from an expected mid-single digit decline in 2026 to a mid-single digit increase.  
    • “This quarter is a reflection of the significant progress Biogen has made repositioning the company for long-term growth,” Viehbacher added.
  • Beckers Hospital Review tells us what 17 pharmacy leaders think about “the biggest shifts they’re seeing in patient expectations.”
  • MedCity News informs us,
    • “For many people, managing a disease means chronic therapy. Scribe Therapeutics has a different vision: genetic medicines that offer durable effects for the masses. With its lead program on a path to report its first human data next year, Scribe has joined the public markets, raising $128.7 million. 
    • “While current genetic medicines are largely limited to rare disorders, we are engineering our technologies for use in common diseases affecting millions,” Scribe said in its IPO filing. “By targeting prevalent diseases with significant unmet need and high clinical burden, we aim to usher in a new era of broadly scalable, transformative, and preventative genetic medicines.”
    • * * * “Alameda, California-based Scribe has selected cardiometabolic disorders as its first focus. Lead therapeutic candidate STX-1150 is intended to lower the “bad” form of cholesterol, which is a risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). This therapy is designed to lower LDL-cholesterol by repressing expression of PCSK9, a protein that in high amounts, reduces the ability of the liver to clear cholesterol from the blood. Injectable PCSK9 inhibitors are already available from Amgen, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Novartis. Last week, Merck received FDA approval for Lipfendra, an oral PCSK9 inhibitor. While dosing frequency for these therapies varies, all of them are taken chronically.”
  • STAT News reports,
    • “Hundreds of thousands of U.S. doctors use clinical large language models, pitched by companies like OpenEvidence, Doximity, and UpToDate as an antidote to the dangers of hallucination-prone generalist models from Big Tech. Yet few studies have pitted them against each other — and this summer brought a high-profile head-to-head. 
    • “Researchers from NYU Langone Health had tested general and clinical models, including OpenEvidence and UpToDate Expert AI, on three sets of clinical questions. The findings, published in Nature Medicine in June: The clinical AI performed worse than the general models. 
    • “The results rang out like a gunshot. “I’ve never seen a single paper trigger the kind of reactions this one has in the health AI community,” wrote Kaiser Permanente’s vice president of AI and emerging technologies on LinkedIn. The paper’s findings, like all science, are subject to interpretation and debate — but many online reactions treated them more like a clear victory for general frontier models.” * * *
    • “Scientists acknowledge that no one test will ever tell the whole story about clinical AI performance. And day-to-day, the choice of when and how to use large language models in care — by individual doctors, and increasingly health system leaders — is shaped by more than research.
    • “I don’t see the benchmarks really playing a role among doctors,” said OpenEvidence’s Nadler. “Academics like talking about them.” 
    • “The more important question, companies, doctors, and researchers agree, is how these tools impact patients. 
    • “Anytime a new technology is introduced into medicine, its impact on those outcomes depends on how it’s used by physicians. Are they using the tool safely and correctly, on the right patients, in the right situations?
    • “In the case of AI, that often comes down to trust. An accurate model inspires confidence, but it can still occasionally be wrong — potentially leading a physician astray, if they rely on it outright. Conversely, a good model can leave gains on the table if a physician doesn’t trust its output.” 


Tuesday report

Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC

  • Per a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service news release,
    • “On July 28, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released preliminary technical Medicare Part D bid information for contract year (CY) 2027 to help Part D plan sponsors finalize their Part D and Medicare Advantage (MA) offerings and prepare for Medicare Open Enrollment. 
    • “Additionally, CMS is announcing the conclusion of the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration, a voluntary demonstration for standalone prescription drug plans implemented in CY 2025 to address volatility and variation in standalone premiums following benefit changes mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). For CY 2027, CMS bid analysis indicates that Part D plan sponsors had sufficient experience under the redesigned Part D benefit to support their assumptions in developing the prescription drug plan bids. Therefore, CMS will discontinue the demonstration at the end of CY 2026 to return the program to operating under traditional market conditions in CY 2027. 
    • “As in past years, CMS will release the 2027 MA and Part D landscape in mid-to-late September, once all offerings are finalized. In addition, CMS will release final average MA and Part D premiums, along with other key information, in September with the MA and Part D landscape.” 
  • The Wall Street Journal adds,
    • “The average premium for a Part D plan was around $36 a month this year, according to KFF, a health-policy nonprofit. 
    • “The administration official said around 25% of Medicare Part D plan enrollees would see premiums for their plans stay flat or go down next year. Around 30% will have an increase of less than $10 to their monthly bill. 
    • “For the remaining 45%, he said, the increases are largely in the $11 to $20 range a month. 
    • “Seniors should be able to find lower premiums if they switch plans, he said, adding affordable options are still available.
    • “Medicare drug coverage premiums are rising because the plans have been hit by growing expenses for GLP-1 medications and other specialty drugs. Changes implemented under 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act also have pushed up premiums. The law reduced many Medicare enrollees’ out-of-pocket expenses but required insurers to shoulder more of the costs. 
    • “Those pressures are expected to continue in 2027, said Juliette Cubanski, a vice president at KFF.” 
  • The American Hospital Association News relates,
    • “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services July 27 released its Contract Year 2025 Part C and Part D Program Audit and Enforcement Report, outlining key compliance issues identified through Medicare Advantage and Part D audits and enforcement activities. CMS emphasized recurring problems involving prior authorization and appeals processing, beneficiary access to medications and services, care coordination, enrollment and eligibility errors, and oversight of delegated entities. The report also highlights enforcement actions totaling approximately $1.54 million in civil money penalties, most of which stemmed from beneficiary cost-sharing and payment integrity failures. CMS signaled increased scrutiny of plans’ compliance with new prior authorization requirements, including the requirement beginning this year to process expedited requests within 72 hours and standard requests within seven calendar days.” 
  • A CMS news release adds,
    • “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that enforcement efforts from its Medicaid Fraud War Room (MFWR) stopped more than $203 million in potentially improper Medicaid payments in just under 90 days, highlighting significant progress in protecting taxpayer dollars and strengthening Medicaid program integrity. Since its launch on April 23, the MFWR has coordinated actions against 50 unique, high-risk Medicaid providers identified through advanced data analytics and representing more than $203 million in Medicaid payments subject to federal exclusions and state enforcement efforts.
    • “Every dollar lost to Medicaid fraud is a dollar taken away from vulnerable Americans who rely on it,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “In just under 90 days, the Medicaid Fraud War Room has proved that these losses aren’t inevitable and has shown Americans what we can accomplish with robust federal-state partnerships, advanced data analytics, and a real sense of urgency. We’ve made significant progress toward crushing waste, fraud, and abuse, but we’re not done yet. If you steal from Medicaid, we will track you down, cut you off, and work to ensure that every taxpayer dollar we spend funds quality care for eligible beneficiaries.”
  • The American Hospital Association News further tells us,
    • “An AHA blog published July 28 highlights new electronic prior authorization requirements that begin Jan. 1, 2027, as a result of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ 2024 Interoperability and Prior Authorization final rule. The blog explains why transitioning to the new process will be a significant operational change that will include coordination with health plans, electronic health record vendors and other technology partners. READ MORE
  • Per a CMS notice to be published tomorrow in the Federal Register,
    • In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing notice of the re-establishment of a matching program between CMS and the Office of Personnel Management, “ Verification of Eligibility for Minimum Essential Coverage Under the
    • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act through an Office of Personnel Management Health Benefit Plan”. The matching program provides CMS and State Administering Entities with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data to use in determining individuals’ eligibility to enroll in a qualified health plan through an exchange established under the ACA; for insurance affordability programs, certifications of exemption, and to make eligibility redeterminations and renewals, including appeal determinations.

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • The New York Times reports,
    • “Even as the number of cyclospora cases in the United States hit record levels, top health regulators insisted that consumers could still trust what they were eating.
    • “The U.S. food supply is safe,” Donald Prater, the acting deputy commissioner for food at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, told attendees Monday at the annual meeting of the International Association for Food Protection.
    • “However, there’s a couple of challenges,” he said, referring to the cyclosporiasis outbreaks that have sickened more than 11,000 people across the country. “It will take a little time. But we do believe we’re taking action and we’re protecting public health.”
  • The Hill adds,
    • “A poll released Sunday shows that 40 percent of U.S. adults are buying or eating less produce after the cyclospora outbreak. 
    • “Comparatively, according to survey results from CBS/YouGov, 4 percent of people said they are eating more produce. 
    • “Among respondents, 56 percent said there has been no change in their diet.” 
  • Fierce Pharma relates,
    • “The FDA has signed off on MannKind’s Furoscix ReadyFlow (furosemide) autoinjector for the treatment of edema in adults with heart failure (HF) or chronic kidney disease (CKD).
    • “Furoscix ReadyFlow becomes the first at-home treatment option to reduce the fluid buildup from HF or CKD. The drug-device combo has been designed to help patients address edema earlier, before symptoms worsen and lead to potential emergency department visits or hospitalization. It has been shown to work as effectively as an intravenous diuretic, which is usually administered in a clinic or hospital.
    • “Furoscix ReadyFlow is taken under the skin in less than 10 seconds, significantly reducing the administration time from five hours with MannKind’s currently available on-body infusor. The company expects to make Furoscix available in the U.S. by the end of August.”
  • The ASCO Post informs us,
    • “The FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence announced three final guidance documents intended to broaden eligibility criteria for participation in clinical trials of oncology drugs.  
    • “Fewer than 5% of patients with cancer currently receiving treatment are enrolled in clinical trials—even though more than 70% say they are willing to participate. The guidance documents address one reason for low participation: stringent and complex clinical trial eligibility criteria. 
    • “Unnecessarily restrictive eligibility criteria may slow subject accrual, limit patients’ access to clinical trials, and lead to trial results that do not fully represent treatment effects in the patient population that will ultimately use the drug,” the three guidances say in their preambles.”  
  • The American Hospital Association News points out,
    • “Baxter is voluntarily recalling a specific lot of intravenous solution due to a report of particulate matter in the solution identified as cardboard, according to a Food and Drug Administration notice. The company is recalling lot LD175708 of its Cefazolin in Dextrose Injection with an expiration date of Feb. 14, 2027. Baxter said use of the product can potentially cause pulmonary embolism, among other harmful impacts. The company said that customers should immediately discontinue use of the solution and return all affected products. Baxter has not received any reports of adverse events related to the issue.” 
  • Cardiovascular Business adds,
    • “Medtronic is recalling specific lots of six different medical devices used as arterial cannulae during cardiopulmonary bypass procedures. This includes multiple models of the company’s 22FR EOPA 3D Arterial Cannulae and its 22FR EOPA Elongated One-Piece Arterial Cannulae.  
    • “Medtronic initiated the new recall after receiving more than 30 reports of small pinhole leaks in the wire-wound body of the devices. These leaks can be difficult to identify during routine inspection; they are primarily visible when the cannula is in a flexed position. 
    • “Potential risks associated with this condition may include hypovolemia, vessel laceration or perforation, hypotension, ischemia and organ dysfunction,” according to an alert shared with customers.” 

No Surprises Act News,

  • Elevance Health, writing in STAT News, reports
    • The [Elevance Health] analysis [of No Surprises Act arbitrations] examined more than 7,300 disputed claim lines involving spine surgery, plastic surgery, colonoscopies, hysteroscopies, and other planned procedures resolved between 2024 and early 2026. Across the procedures studied, providers prevailed in nearly 90% of disputes, and the average award approached $40,000 per disputed claim line.
    • The arbitration awards were also found to be drastically higher than commonly used payment benchmarks. Across the planned procedures analyzed, the median award was more than 50 times the qualifying payment amount, which is the benchmark based on an insurer’s median in-network contracted rate. Worse still, the median arbitration award was 29 times higher than median in-network commercial claims, and 67 times higher than Medicare rates for the same procedures in the same locations. Awards for assistant surgeons were even more extreme, with the median award more than 145 times the qualifying payment amount.
    • Researchers also found that awards for these planned procedures increased over time. Between 2024 and 2025, arbitration awards for the procedures analyzed rose by 43%.
    • Although these disputes represented a relatively small share of overall IDR volume, they accounted for a disproportionate share of arbitration costs because of the size of the awards. Planned surgical procedures and associated neuromonitoring represented roughly 16% of disputes but approximately 60% of No Surprises Act arbitration costs.” * * *
    • “The findings do not describe all No Surprises Act disputes. They focus on a defined subset of planned procedures and associated services. But they point to a broader implementation question: whether some categories of scheduled services are entering IDR in ways that could increase costs.
    • “The study identifies several policy considerations for policymakers to evaluate, including strengthening eligibility standards for planned procedures entering IDR, increasing transparency around arbitration decisions, reinforcing the use of market-based payment benchmarks, and providing additional guidance for arbitrators evaluating payment disputes.”
  • FEHBlog observation: Amen to that. Those changes would lower healthcare costs.

From the public health and medical / Rx research front

  • The New York Times reports,
    • “Kira Wynn will do almost anything to avoid ovarian cancer, which killed her mother.”
    • * * * “So Ms. Wynn, 37, had a consultation with Dr. Rebecca Stone, a gynecological oncologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine. What she heard was not what she expected.
    • “Ovarian cancer,” Dr. Stone told her, is a misnomer. Nearly all ovarian cancers — and nearly all fatal ovarian cancers — are actually cancers of the fallopian tubes. The 20 percent or so that start in the ovaries are different, Dr. Stone said, and usually can be cured.
    • “Women who have their tubes — the gummy worm-shaped ducts that carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus — removed reduce their chances of getting ovarian cancer by nearly 80 percent. It’s a five-minute operation that can be done as part of nearly any abdominal surgery, including a hysterectomy, tubal ligation, gallbladder surgery and hernia repair.
    • “Yet no doctor, Ms. Wynn said, had ever mentioned fallopian tube removal to her.
    • “That’s not surprising, Dr. Stone said, because most doctors (and the public) do not know about this new approach, even though professional groups like the American Cancer Society, the American College of Surgeons and the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology have recently issued statements encouraging doctors to offer tube removal at the time of other abdominal surgeries.”
  • The American Hospital Association relates,
    • “The American Red Cross July 27 declared a national blood supply crisis, as the organization said that blood donations have fallen to a four-year summer low. The organization said that it has less than a one-day national supply of type O positive blood and is limiting distribution of type O blood to hospitals. This year is the second time in its history that the Red Cross declared a national blood crisis, the first since January 2022.” 
  • The Washington Post adds,
    • “The American Red Cross has less than a one-day national supply of O-positive blood, the most commonly transfused blood type, and has begun limiting distributions of the blood to hospitals, it said.
    • “The only previous national blood crisis declared by the group came in 2022 as a surge of covid-19 cases lowered blood donor turnout.
    • “The American Red Cross urged all eligible donors to make appointments to give blood.”
  • Health Day tells us,
    • “Middle-aged folks have a higher risk of muscle loss if their weight “yo-yos” due to inconsistent dieting, a new study says.
    • “People who repeatedly dropped and regained weight wound up losing nearly four times as much thigh muscle during a four-year period compared to others whose weight remained relatively steady, researchers recently reported in the journal Radiology.
    • “When people’s weight cycled, they lost tremendous amounts of muscle along with the fat, and they didn’t gain the muscle back,” said lead researcher Dr. Thomas Link, a professor of radiology at the University of California-San Francisco.
    • “This tells us that understanding how to protect muscle while people are losing weight is important for overall health,” he said in a news release.”
  • The Washington Post adds,
    • “Savings to the overall health care economy from GLP-1 drugs have yet to be proven, but researchers have found evidence that health benefits could spill into the labor market.
    • “A study of workers in Denmark showed a 17.3 percent decline in long-term sick leave among those who were treated with Ozempic, the diabetes drug, according to results published this month in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper. The researchers were from the University of Copenhagen, the University of Chicago, Duke University and the Rockwool Foundation — an independent organization that conducts research on social and economic issues.
    • “Before treatment, the study noted, an average of 5.5 percent of the workers accessed long-term sick leave (defined as longer than 30 days). That dropped nearly a full percentage point after treatment with the drug, the research found. About 84 percent of the patients in the study, which was conducted through analysis of health records and has not been peer-reviewed, had diabetes.”
  • MedPage Today points out,
    • “Nongated chest CT scans are usually performed for reasons other than to assess cardiovascular risk.
    • “Incidental coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores extracted from nongated chest CT scans accurately predicted cardiovascular risks in a community-based cohort.
    • “Patients with moderate or severe nongated CAC had significantly higher risks of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease versus those with zero CAC.”
  • STAT News notes,
    • “An interim look at an Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial evaluating an amyloid-targeting treatment from ProMIS Neurosciences showed low rates of brain bleeding and no incidences of brain swelling — results reported Tuesday that suggest the drug could be safer than approved treatments. 
    • “In a blinded analysis that pooled safety data from patients receiving the ProMIS drug and a placebo, the total rate of ARIA was 4.4%, with all cases mild and asymptomatic, the company said.” * * *
    • “ProMIS expects all the participants in the Phase 1 study to complete twelve months of treatment late this year, allowing the company to unblind the data and report full results, including measures of cognition and function, early in 2027.” 
  • Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News adds,
    • “Neurodegenerative diseases are typically defined by the presence of characteristic clinical phenotypes. However, it is increasingly recognized that early intervention could give people the best chance for meaningful positive effects. As a result, early detection and prevention are becoming major priorities.
    • “Months to several years before amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) symptoms arise, levels of certain blood proteins may dramatically shift. By anticipating the arrival of symptoms, investigators could intervene with preventative therapies before the irreversible motor neuron damage that is characteristic of ALS sets in.
    • “In this study, researchers analyzed data from the long-running, National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Pre-symptomatic Familial ALS (Pre-fALS) study, to identify a lineup of key proteins that may predict the emergence of clinically manifest ALS.
    • “This work is published in Nature Medicine in the paper, “Longitudinal plasma proteomics predict phenoconversion to clinically manifest ALS.”
  • Per an Institute for Clinical and Economic Research news release,
    • “The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) today released a Final Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of vaccines for protection against Covid-19, including: Comirnaty® (Pfizer, BioNTech), Spikevax® (Moderna), mNexspike® (Moderna), and Nuvaxovid® (Sanofi).
    • “ICER examined the impact of Covid-19 vaccines and found that pregnant women, infants, and adults aged 65+ benefit most from vaccination. ICER’s report on this therapy was the subject of the June 2026 public meeting of the New England CEPAC, one of ICER’s three independent evidence appraisal committees. The New England CEPAC was aligned with ICER’s report findings.
    • Downloads: Final Evidence Report | Report-at-a-Glance | Policy Recommendations 
    • “The current confusion in the US around vaccine policy is challenging for both health care professionals and the American public,” said ICER’s President and CEO Sarah K. Emond, MPP. “Policymakers, especially public health leaders, need reliable and unbiased assessments of how well therapies work for patients. For 20 years, ICER has delivered that through our evidence-based analyses and public meetings. This public meeting highlighted what we know about the current evidence on Covid-19 vaccines, and where there are opportunities to gain an even better understanding of how these vaccinations impact different subpopulations. Ultimately, ICER’s transparent and public process sheds light on the broader context that policymakers should consider when making recommendations about Covid-19 vaccines.”

From the U.S. healthcare business and artificial intelligence fronts,

  • MedCity News reports,
    • “It’s often said that the healthcare system is broken, from the outdated use of fax machines to perverse incentives.
    • “But who broke the healthcare system? At MedCity News’ Bullseye event in Chicago, Editor-in-Chief Arundhati Parmar posed this question to two health insurance CEOs.
    • “The response? “We did,” replied Sachin Jain, CEO of SCAN Health Plan, referring to all of those who work inside of healthcare. He added that healthcare stakeholders have normalized the abnormal.” * * *
    • “The CEO of Ascendiun, Paul Markovich, echoed this. Ascendiun is a nonprofit and parent company of Blue Shield of California, Blue Shield Promise Health Plan, Altais and Stellarus.
    • “It’s our own damn fault collectively, and I think that’s why we’re trying to focus a lot of our energy on the system. … One of the reasons I work at a health plan and a nonprofit health plan is because I think what the health plans can do is create a better system,” he said. “We tend to control the rules of how people get paid, what are the administrative burdens? Are we using a fax machine, or are we figuring out another way to connect digitally? We have the biggest influence, I think, in trying to shift the system to getting much better results from people day to day than what we’re seeing now.”
  • Healthcare Dive relates,
    • “Centene handily beat Wall Street’s expectations in the second quarter, as higher revenue from premiums and rate hikes for the managed care company’s plans shielded its bottom line from elevated medical costs.
    • “Centene posted $53.6 billion in revenue, up 10% year over year, and $1.1 billion in profit in the quarter. That’s compared to a loss of $253 million the same time last year when Centene was caught off guard by higher spending — the insurer’s first quarterly loss in more than two years.
    • “Centene raised its 2026 financial outlook on Tuesday following the outperformance, which TD Cowen analyst Ryan Langston called “huge.”
    • “Any way you slice it, this was a fantastic quarter,” CFO Drew Asher said during a morning call with investors.”
    • “It’s the second beat-and-raise this year for the St. Louis-based insurer, following a buoyant first quarter when Centene bumped its 2026 guidance on the back of better controlled medical costs.” 
  • BioPharma Dive tells us,
    • “GSK is turning to a multibillion-dollar cost-cutting program to help the company grow profits while absorbing the impact of a sizable patent cliff.
    • “In its latest quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, the British pharmaceutical company revealed a three-year restructuring plandesigned to save a total of about £1.9 billion, or $2.5 billion, per year. GSK didn’t disclose specific details about the plan, but said that it should “simplify the organization” and help “reallocate capital and resources” towards specialty medicines.
  • MedTech Dive adds,
    • “Boston Scientific announced a global restructuring that will involve changes to its supply chain and organizational structure.
    • “The heart device company said in a Monday securities filing that it expects “some headcount reductions,” though it will still post new jobs in areas of growth. Boston Scientific did not say how many positions it expects to cut. The company did not respond to MedTech Dive’s request for comment by publishing time.
    • “In total, the company expects about $700 million to $800 million in pre-tax charges, according to the filing. The restructuring, approved by the company’s board, is expected to start this year and be complete by the end of 2029.”
  • Beckers Payer Issues informs us,
    • “Deferred elective surgery was a through-line of second-quarter earnings calls at four of the country’s largest for-profit hospital operators. But their executives do not agree on what is driving the slowdown, or whether it represents lost demand at all.
    • “Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems and Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare all reported softness in elective volumes, particularly in high-acuity areas such as orthopedic and cardiac care that generate some of hospitals’ strongest margins. 
    • “King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services reported milder surgical softness alongside a broader volume rebound and pinned the weakness on a different cause.
    • “The distinction matters because the competing explanations point to very different futures. If patients are postponing care they cannot afford, the volume loss reflects a demand problem that additional capital and capacity will not solve. If cases are shifting to lower-cost settings, the revenue has not disappeared; it has just moved somewhere else.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review points out,
    • “New Hampshire is the best state for healthcare while Alaska is the worst, according to an analysis published July 27 by WalletHub.
    • “The personal finance company compared the states and the District of Columbia across three dimensions: cost, access and outcomes. Analysts then evaluated the dimensions across 44 metrics, including average monthly insurance premiums, hospital beds per capita, emergency room wait times, infant mortality rates and the share of patients readmitted to hospitals. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the best healthcare at the most reasonable cost. WalletHub then calculated each state’s weighted average across all metrics to produce an overall score and used the resulting scores to rank the states. 
    • “Iowa ranked first for cost, North Dakota ranked first for access and New Hampshire ranked first for outcomes.”
  • Beckers Clinical Leadership notes,
    • “Of the 679 U.S. hospitals designated as “Magnet” hospitals for nursing excellence, about 5% have earned the recognition more than six times. 
    • “The American Nurses Credentialing Center awards Magnet recognition to hospitals based on their quality of patient care and nursing excellence. As of July 28, 36 hospitals have received six or more Magnet designations — representing just 0.6% of the nation’s 6,100 hospitals. 
    • “Since Dec. 31, 2025, four hospitals have earned their sixth Magnet designation: Englewood (N.J.) Hospital, Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, Penn Medicine Lancaster (Pa.) General Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital.
    • [The article lists} the 36 hospitals that have received this honor six or more times.
  • Per Fierce Healthcare,
    • “LifeBridge Health’s Sinai Hospital of Baltimore is putting an artificial intelligence-powered diagnostic for sepsis into clinical use, bringing a research-backed tool to the patients’ bedside.
    • “Chicago-based Prenosis, a biology-based technology company, developed Sepsis ImmunoScore, an AI-powered tool that can spot the early signs of sepsis. The tool analyzes 22 parameters to identify patterns in a patient’s biological immune response, enabling clinicians to detect sepsis or its progression within 24 hours.
    • “Sepsis ImmunoScore received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s first authorization for software to diagnose sepsis in 2024. Prenosis’ solution was approved through the FDA’s De Novo pathway.”
  • and
    • “Virtual care and health navigation company Included Health inked a deal to acquire Firefly Health to scale health plan alternatives for employers.
    • “In January, Included Health launched an alternative health plan design for employers, broadening its existing all-in-one virtual care platform. Firefly Health, founded in 2017, is a primary care and health plan provider serving more than 20,000 individuals nationally. 
    • “The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026. The companies did not disclose financial details of the acquisition.”

Monday report

Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC,

  • Roll Call reports,
    • “As the Senate speeds toward its upcoming August recess, President Donald Trump is turning up the pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to keep his chamber in session and in Washington instead. 
    • “So far, that’s unlikely.  “You could stay here till Christmas” and the situation wouldn’t change, Thune said. “If I thought there was a path to getting a result, I’m all for it.” 
    • “The president posted to Truth Social on Monday morning that “Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes” the SAVE America Act, a GOP-crafted package that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID at the polls.
    • “The sweeping bill does not have the 60 votes needed to advance through the Senate — a message the South Dakota Republican leader has reiterated both publicly and privately to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.” 
  • Per a U.S. Senate Committee news release,
    • “On Thursday, July 30, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will vote on bills to increase Americans’ educational opportunities and give them more tools to secure a strong retirement. The Committee will also vote the nominations for Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor.”
  • Govexec relates,
    • “While lawmakers are debating what an appropriate regulatory framework for artificial intelligence should be, experts who spoke at a panel on Monday noted that federal employees have been using the technology for years to develop all sorts of regulations. 
    • “Cary Coglianese, a regulation professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said that agencies, for example, have been using AI to analyze thousands of public comments that some proposed rules receive. 
    • “Back in the day, contractors would literally photocopy comments, clip them out and sort them in different categories — and do what essentially natural language processing tools can do now so quickly and rather effectively,” he said. 
    • “But as the technology advances, speakers on the panel — which was sponsored by the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, a left-leaning group of more than 220 regulatory-focused organizations — argued that AI could take over more steps in the rulemaking process, potentially supercharging the Trump administration’s efforts to slash regulations and downsize the federal government.”
  •  FEHBlog observation: The government can use AI for many more tasks, and you don’t have to be left leaning to be concerned about this development.
  • Fierce Healthcare tells us,
    • “A tiny federal agency tasked with protecting the public from injuries caused by lawn mowers and coffeemakers is demanding that some of the nation’s biggest health systems turn over detailed, personally identifiable medical records of all patients who seek help at their emergency rooms.
    • “The Consumer Product Safety Commission, responsible for tracking and issuing recalls of dangerous products sold in the U.S., began discreetly pressuring hospital executives this year to share personally identifiable health data with a private contractor. But hospital lawyers and other industry experts have questioned the agency’s authority to collect, its ability to safeguard such a swath of sensitive information, and whether it has followed the legal process to overhaul its surveillance system.
    • “After KFF Health News asked the CPSC about the new system, the agency announced the program on July 21. Left unmentioned, however, is the alarm it has raised among hospital executives, as well as the nature and extent of the agency’s data demands.”
  • and
    • “A new analysis finds that Medicare Advantage enrollees spend less on average than those in the traditional program, but report similar satisfaction levels.
    • “ATI Advisory conducted the study on behalf of the Better Medicare Alliance, analyzing data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey and Cost Supplement files from 2021 to 2023. The analysis found that MA enrollees spent $2,824, or 36%, less out-of-pocket on average in 2023 compared to those in fee-for-service Medicare.
    • “And the difference in spending has risen over time, with savings 16% higher in 2023 than in 2022, according to the report.
    • “Twelve percent of MA beneficiaries said they faced a significant cost burden, or spent more than 20% of their income on healthcare, compared to 24% of people enrolled in traditional Medicare.”
  • Beckers Payer Issues adds,
    • Medicare Advantage will account for 57% of overall Medicare enrollment by 2036, up from 51% this year, according to a July report from the Congressional Budget Office.
  • and
    • “Four more Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans have received five-star ratings thanks to CMS’ recalculation.” * * *
    • In a July 21 letter to MA organizations, CMS said ratings stayed the same for 61%, increased for 9% and declined for 30% of contracts. The agency did not change ratings for plans that had worse performance in the latest review. The threshold for MA plans earning additional payments is four out of five stars. Top plans get their own perks, though, such as special enrollment period privileges and further rebate benefits.
    • CMS clarified to Becker’s that it only updated overall ratings, not the separate Parts C and D summary ratings, on the plan finder.
    • Here are the four contracts joining the five-star club:
      • Renown Health
        • Hometown Health Plan (Senior Care Plus) — Contract H2960
      • Rifkin Managed Care Holding
        • Provider Partners Health Plan of Texas — Contract H4054
        • Provider Partners Health Plan of Pennsylvania — Contract H4093
      • Longevity Health Founders

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • MedPage Today tells us,
    • Nearly 100 people in 17 states have been sickened in a salmonella outbreak tied to recalled eggs, federal health officials said Friday.
    • The 98 people had illnesses that started between Nov. 21 and June 30, according to the FDA. No deaths have been reported, but 26 people have been hospitalized.
    • Investigators have determined that shell eggs recalled by Midwest Poultry Services are a likely source of the germ, but the Indiana-based company doesn’t account for all the illnesses.
  • BioPharma Dive reports,
    • “The Food and Drug Administration has approved Freenome’s blood-based screening test for colorectal cancer, called SimpleScreen CRC. Abbott will exclusively market the test in the U.S., starting this fall, the companies said Monday.
    • “Abbott already sells the Cologuard stool test for colorectal cancer screening, following its $21 billion acquisition of Exact Sciences earlier this year. Through its collaboration with Freenome, Abbott now adds a blood test to its colorectal cancer screening portfolio.
    • “SimpleScreen will compete with Guardant Health’s Shield blood test for colorectal cancer screening, which gained FDA approval in 2024. TD Cowen analysts said that with a very large population of patients who are unscreened, “We see room for multiple players.”
  • Fierce Pharma relates,
    • “The FDA has approved Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s once-daily extended-release capsule Simtriyo (centanafadine) for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in patients aged 6 years and older.
    • “Approval of the first-in-class norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin reuptake inhibitor (NDSRI) gives the Japanese drugmaker its “next major CNS launch” and positions the therapy to become a potential blockbuster in a large, under-penetrated market, according to Jefferies analysts in a July 26 note.
    • “Before Simtriyo can launch in the U.S. market, it must clear controlled-substance review by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a standard, up-to-three-month procedure for all central nervous system stimulants.”
  • Contemporary OB/GYN informs us,
    • “Roche received FDA 510(k) clearance for its cobas BV/CV (Bacterial vaginosis/Candida vaginitis) assay, a molecular diagnostic test that returns results for both conditions from a single vaginal swab. The assay is intended for professional laboratory use, based on a clinician’s order, the company noted in a July 24, 2026, news release.
    • “The test uses real-time polymerase chain reaction technology to identify the specific bacteria and yeast species that are responsible for BV and CV in symptomatic patients. Roche stated that the assay is designed to support faster, more accurate diagnosis than syndromic evaluation alone, with the goal of improving both patient outcomes and laboratory efficiency.
    • “BV and CV are among the most common causes of vaginal symptoms in the United States, and both conditions can present with overlapping symptoms that complicate clinical diagnosis based on history and examination alone.”
  • NBC News San Diego CA points out,
    • “The Food and Drug Administration has recalled a commonly prescribed thyroid medication.
    • “The recall involves levothyroxine sodium tablets that are used to treat hypothyroidism and decrease the size of enlarged thyroid glands, according to Mayo Clinic.
    • “The FDA said they had been functioning as “subpotent drugs,” meaning they had less of an active ingredient and were ultimately less effective.
    • “Major Pharmaceuticals packaged and distributed the recalled tablets, while Cardinal Health also distributed some of the recalled products.
    • “Twelve different dosages and cartons from the two companies were listed in the FDA’s recall notice. You can read the full list here.”

From the judicial front,

  • Bloomberg Law reports,
    • “Novo Nordisk A/S is asking a federal judge to halt Eli Lilly & Co.’s advertisements for its GLP-1 drugs, escalating a legal fight against the company’s campaign for weight loss treatments.
    • “The company said Friday [July 24] it filed a motion for preliminary injunction seeking to block Lilly’s advertisements of its obesity drugs, days after filing a lawsuit accusing the company of deceptive promotions. 
    • “Misleading advertisements that selectively compare lower doses of Novo Nordisk’s medicines against higher doses of Lilly’s medicines, based on outdated studies, leave patients with the mistaken impression that Lilly’s drugs are vastly superior, and that is simply not true,” John F. Kuckelman, senior vice president and group general counsel of Novo, said in a statement.”
  • and
    • “Johnson & Johnson on Monday said it agreed to a $5.5 billion commitment to resolve litigation related to claims that its talc products caused ovarian cancer. 
    • “The drugmaker said the proposed resolution represents “an efficient conclusion” to the lawsuits. The agreement requires the participation of lead plaintiff firms in ovarian talc litigation pending in state and federal court that represent at least 95% of claims, according to J&J. 
    • “While we are confident the company would have ultimately prevailed with further litigation, as it has in the vast majority of cases tried to date, this resolution allows the Company to put this matter behind it and remain focused on its mission to develop medicines and devices that save lives,” J&J Vice President of Litigation Erik Haas said in the statement on the company’s website.” 
  • Beckers Payer Issues identifies five health system vs. payer lawsuits to watch.

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • Health Day reports,
    • “More than one-third of women and one-quarter of men engage in intentional outdoor tanning, with variance observed by age, race, physical activity level, and alcohol use, according to a study published online July 22 in JAMA Dermatology.
    • “Dawn M. Holman, M.P.H., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues examined the prevalence of intentional outdoor tanning among U.S. adults. The analysis included 31,615 adults participating in the 2024 National Health Interview Survey.” * * *
    • “These findings support the need to address intentional outdoor tanning in the context of skin cancer prevention,” the authors write. “The variation in demographic and behavioral factors points to venues for future research and interventions.”
  • The American Medical Association lets us know “what doctors want patients to know about summer skin safety” and “what doctors want patients to know about cardiac stress tests.
  • The American Hospital Associagtion News relates,
    • “The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration July 27 released results from its latest national survey on drug use and mental health. The survey found that fewer adolescents 12-17 and adults 18-25 used alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs between 2021 and 2025. In addition, 27.6% of adolescents received mental health treatment in the past year, while 21.6% of adults 18 or older received treatment. The survey highlighted additional findings on suicide, substance use treatment and recovery.”
  • and
    • “The Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies Interorganizational Task Force on Domestic Disasters and Acts of Terrorism announced July 24 that the U.S. blood supply is at significant risk for shortages due to weeks of decline in blood donations. The task force said the reduced supply is more pronounced in certain areas of the country, and in some areas blood collectors are already reporting an impact on the availability of blood for some patients. The organization is urging eligible donors to make and keep an appointment to donate blood as soon as possible. An AHA Member Advisory will be issued on the matter, which will include a call to action and resources for conserving blood supplies.” 
  • MedPage tells us,
    • “Despite the availability of multivalent pneumococcal vaccines, infants remain susceptible to invasive pneumococcal diseases.
    • “In this French study, infants immunized against RSV with nirsevimab were about 35% less likely to be hospitalized for invasive pneumococcal disease through 9 months.
    • “The rise in pneumococcal disease cases in kids involving serotypes not covered by vaccines highlights the need for complementary prevention strategies, the researchers said.”
  • and
    • “Diabetes and weight loss are associated with an increased risk of fragility fractures, which can be associated with substantial morbidity and mortality.
    • “In this retrospective study of adults with type 2 diabetes, those starting a GLP-1 drug had a 21% lower risk of fragility fractures over 3 years compared with initiators of a DPP-4 inhibitor.
    • “The lower fracture risk associated with GLP-1 drugs was independent of changes in body mass index.”
  • Health Day adds,
    • “Worried that your Ozempic is becoming less effective over time?
    • “Don’t worry — you’re still eating less, even if you are feeling a bit hungrier, a new study says.
    • “People on semaglutide for weight loss continue to eat less even after they’ve taken the drug for more than a year, researchers report in the August issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
    • “While some of the drug’s early reduction of hunger and food-related thoughts wanes over time, people continue to eat substantially fewer calories compared to others provided a placebo, researchers found.”
  • MedScape notes,
    • “A compression device worn around the abdomen during colonoscopy reduced cecal intubation time by more than 1.5 minutes and significantly lowered post-procedural pain, the need for manual abdominal pressure, and patient position changes. Greatest improvements were seen in patients who were lean or had obesity.”
  • Per a National Institutes of Health news release,
    • “Months to several years before amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) symptoms arise, levels of certain blood proteins may dramatically shift. Researchers analyzed data from the long-running, National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Pre-symptomatic Familial ALS (Pre-fALS) study, to identify a lineup of key proteins that may predict the emergence of clinically manifest ALS. By anticipating the arrival of symptoms, investigators could intervene with preventative therapies before the irreversible motor neuron damage that is characteristic of ALS sets in.
    • “If someone carrying an ALS-associated genetic variant had asked me in the past when they would become symptomatic, I would have struggled to provide a reasonable estimate,” said senior author Michael Benatar, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of neurology and public health sciences at the University of Miami. “These biomarkers give us a far better idea of the timing, allowing us to estimate the time to symptom onset with an average error of about 18 months. That’s something we can work with.”

From the U.S. healthcare business and artificial intelligence front,

  • Beckers Payer Issue tells us eight things to know about healthcare spending trends. 
  • Modern Healthcare reports,
    • “Cone Health CEO Dr. Paul Krakovitz said the system is focusing on value-based care coordination.
    • “Cone’s parent system, Risant Health [,a subsidiary of Kaiser Permanente], provides a national network with added scale and expertise to operate in a highly competitive healthcare market.
    • “Krokovitz said the system is expanding to take advantage of North Carolina’s booming population growth.” * * *
    • “We’re coming up on our second anniversary soon. The tools that Risant is bringing us in terms of value-based care and giving us national scale have been impressive. They’ve been very open-minded. Most importantly, they’ve stuck to the value of the deal, which has been making sure Cone Health remains a community-based health system.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review relates,
    • “King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services recorded an operating income of $516.7 million (11.1% operating margin) during the second quarter of 2026, compared to an operating income of $500.3 million (11.7% margin) during the same period last year, according to its July 27 financial report.” * * *
    • “UHS operates 30 inpatient acute care hospitals, 346 inpatient behavioral health facilities, about 170 outpatient and other facilities, a health plan and a physician network in 40 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.”
  • Leapfrog posted its 2026 hospital safety ratings.
  • The Wall Street Journal informs us,
    • “Argenx agreed to buy Forte Biosciences for $2.2 billion to strengthen its immunology pipeline.
    • “The purchase price of $77 a share in cash represents a 41% premium to Forte’s closing price on Friday.
    • “The deal adds Forte’s experimental drug FB102, which Argenx said has potential to address multiple autoimmune diseases.”
  • and
    • “AstraZeneca reported higher second-quarter sales driven by cancer medicines and said it remains on track to hit its 2030 revenue target.
    • “AstraZeneca’s second-quarter revenue rose to $15.38 billion from $14.46 billion, driven by a 15% increase in oncology product sales.
    • “Chief Executive Pascal Soriot sought to reassure investors after a recent trial failure raised doubts about the company’s 2030 revenue goal.”
  • MedCity News discusses “What Happens When Patients Trust AI Over Their Doctor?”
    • As patients increasingly bring AI chatbot advice into exam rooms, where does liability land when that advice goes wrong? Health law attorney Meghan O’Connor said the answer still isn’t clear, but silence is the riskiest response for providers.

Weekend Update

Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC

  • Punchbowl News lets us know,
    • “The Senate is the only game in town on Capitol Hill for the next two weeks, with the House gone already.
    • The late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) memorial service is Tuesday afternoon at National Cathedral. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are all expected to attend. There’s also a Capitol Rotunda ceremony on Tuesday morning.
    • The Senate has a full plate during its two-week sprint to August recess. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is under pressure from competing factions of his conference — and the White House — over the SAVE America Act, reconciliation 3.0, the midterms and much more.”
  • Bloomberg Law reports,
    • “Mehmet Oz [,an MD who administers the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services within the Department of Health and Human Services] has been loyal to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while cultivating a close relationship with President Donald Trump and a reputation as a serious operator in the administration.
    • Oz has been playing a significant role in the administration, with access to the president and involvement in various policy discussions, leading to speculation that he could be the heir apparent to lead the health department if Kennedy departs.
    • Despite potential challenges and criticisms, Oz has earned respect from some outside the administration, including major healthcare companies and industry groups, and has been working to implement the administration’s health policies and reduce healthcare costs.

From the public health and medical/Rx research front.

  • The Wall Street Journal relates,
    • “The eyes are a window to the soul, but the mouth may reveal just as much about a person’s health—and the diseases that shape how we age.
    • “To better understand those connections, scientists are studying how issues that start in the mouth may contribute to chronic inflammation elsewhere in the body. In particular, they’re examining how bacteria from diseased gums, and the immune response they trigger, may contribute to conditions including heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, arthritis, respiratory disease and chronic liver disease.
    • “The emerging science poses a challenge for healthcare, given the traditional divide between medicine and dentistry—fields that have long been divided by separate training, records and insurance systems. “Dentists haven’t traditionally been trained to think about whole-body health in relation to the mouth, and doctors haven’t been trained to see dental health as a first step to overall well-being,” says Dr. Jessica Lederhausen, a dentist and author of “Oral,” a book exploring the role of lifestyle on oral health.
    • “But that is changing. Dental schools, which have taught how diseases like diabetes affect the mouth, are also placing greater emphasis on how oral disease can affect the rest of the body. Medical-education leaders have called on medical schools to better integrate oral health into physician training.
  • Newsweek relates,
    • Air quality alerts spanned large swaths of the western United States on Sunday as wildfire smoke and high ozone levels triggered unhealthy breathing conditions across OregonIdahoWashingtonMontanaColorado, and California.
    • “Data from AirNow, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) monitoring platform, showed widespread “unhealthy” air or worse, driven primarily by smoke from ongoing fires in Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Officials urged residents in affected zones to remain indoors, limit strenuous outdoor activities, and take precautions if they suffer from asthma, heart disease, or other respiratory ailments.”
    • The primary health threat stems from fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, which is small enough to penetrate deep into human lung tissue.
  • Columbia University tells us,
    • “If you’re among the hundreds of millions of people now using an AI chatbot on a regular basis, chances are you’ve tried asking it for personal advice. So you know the peculiar comfort that comes from instantly receiving thorough, information-packed takes on your most private concerns, delivered in a warm, affirming tone. “That’s an excellent question and you’re smart to ask it!” a typical chatbot response might begin, whether you’re considering cosmetic surgery or leaving your spouse. “Now let’s think this through, step by step.”
    • “Today, roughly one in three US adults and nearly 20 percent of adolescents are turning to chatbots for personal guidance, seeking insights on everything from relationship problems and workplace conflicts to deeper concerns about anxiety and depression. No one knows yet exactly how this is affecting people, because the phenomenon is so new. But many experts are alarmed. 
    • “People should not be relying on chatbots for emotional support or therapy, that’s for sure,” says Ragy Girgis ’14PH, a Columbia psychiatrist and outspoken advocate for research on the issue. “The technology cannot be trusted to be accurate or helpful in that way.”
  • Oschner Health informs us,
    • “Ultra-processed foods have been a hot topic in wellness conversations, and for good reason. Research continues to link diets high in these foods with anxiety and inflammation, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers and more.
    • “But this isn’t a story about fear. The goal is not perfection. It’s about awareness — understanding why some foods are so easy to overeat and how small shifts can help protect our long-term health.” * * *
    • Food scientists use the term “bliss point” to describe the “sweet spot” combination of carbohydrate, salt, fat and texture that lights up our brain’s pleasure centers. That combination can make food especially rewarding to eat —and incredibly difficult to stop eating.
    • “For a recent episode of my FUELED Wellness + Nutrition podcast, I [Molly Kimball RD] interviewed Erica LaFata, PhD, a clinical psychologist and researcher whose work focuses on the addictive and reinforcing properties of ultra-processed foods.
    • “This isn’t just about willpower; people aren’t suddenly becoming worse at regulating their eating behavior,” noted LaFata. The food environment itself has changed, making highly rewarding, ultra-processed foods easier to access and consume than ever before.” * * *
    • “This isn’t about obsessing over every ingredient label. It’s about recognizing how these foods are designed and marketed to us so we can make more intentional choices.
    • “LaFata believes that awareness itself can be empowering. It helps us recognize that the issue isn’t simply willpower, but the food environment surrounding us every day.
    • “Small shifts toward whole and minimally processed foods can support overall health. Making intentional choices–even when foods are designed to keep us coming back for more–is a step in the right direction.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • The New York Times explains “What Geriatric Emergency Departments Do Differently.”
    • “These specialized units can help keep older patients out of the hospital, lower their health care costs and more.” * * *
    • “Since 2017, the American College of Emergency Physicians has accredited 624 such geriatric emergency departments across the United States, including 73 in Veterans Affairs medical centers. “A fairly exponential rate of growth,” said Dr. Kevin Biese, the emergency doctor who directs the Geriatric Emergency Department Collaborative.
    • “Few of these units are restricted to older patients. Instead, like the E.R. in La Jolla [CA], they serve all ages but incorporate senior-friendly practices and protocols in an environment aimed at staving off disorientation, falls and other elder hazards. They’re classified from Level 1, for those fulfilling the highest number of criteria, to Level 3.
    • “Adults 75 and older visit the emergency room at a higher rate than any other age group except infants: 76 visits per 100 people in 2022. Yet standard emergency care “wasn’t correctly designed for the needs of older adults,” Dr. Biese said.”
  • NavigateWell recommends
    • Questions [for employers to ask before your next [health benefits] renewal
      • Before your next renewal, work with your broker to answer these questions and identify where your greatest opportunity for activation exists.
      • Where are employees delaying preventive care or failing to act on identified risks?
      • Are our benefits connected through one experience or expected to work independently?
      • Are we measuring health improvement or simply participation?
      • Which partners are willing to share accountability for outcomes?
      • Healthcare costs will continue to rise. But employers still have an opportunity to influence what happens before tomorrow’s claims are created. The future of employer healthcare strategy requires both.
  • The Wall Street Journal relates,
    • Regeneron REGN Pharmaceuticals co-founder and chief scientific officer George Yancopoulos is more comfortable in a leather jacket than a suit—so much so, his own team had to talk him into wearing one to the White House.
    • “He conceded, but not without adding a colorful tie, hand-painted by Nobel laureate Wally Gilbert. Yancopoulos isn’t one to blend in.
    • “The meeting with President Trump in April was organized in part to tout Regeneron’s latest invention: a gene therapy that restores hearing to children born with a rare genetic deafness, affecting fewer than 50 newborns a year in the U.S. Regeneron—at Yancopoulos’s urging—decided to give it away, free.
    • “We did it to make a statement,” said Yancopoulos, 66. “We want to remind people that when people are sick, you pray for a miracle. And where do they come from? They come from our industry.”
    • “Nearly four decades since he co-founded the biotech Regeneron, Yancopoulos has more than 1,000 patents worldwide, including 77 granted in the U.S., and has authored more than 500 scientific papers. He has turned Regeneron into one of the world’s most valuable drug companies, with a market cap of roughly $70 billion, by repeatedly pioneering technologies that opened up entirely new classes of blockbuster drugs.”

Friday report

Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC,

  • Roll Call reports,
    • “Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., defied expectations and kept his fractured conference together to pass several priority items before House members jetted home on Thursday to kick off a five-week recess. 
    • “But how much of that legislation their colleagues in the Senate will take up is a different question, as divisions continue to deepen.
    • “The House adopted a GOP-backed budget resolution along party lines on Wednesday, taking the first step toward passing a $95 billion reconciliation package that’s focused mostly on the Iran war. 
    • “But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. has remained lukewarm on such a package, especially if it includes certain aspects of the so-called SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID at the polls. 
    • “I can’t count 50 right now on a budget resolution,” Thune told reporters on Thursday. He said the path to clearing the chamber’s so-called Byrd bath, which assesses compliance with reconciliation rules, “is still an open question.”
  • Beckers Clinical Leadership relates,
    • “HHS has rewritten the governing charters for the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee.
    • “The ACCV charter, filed July 21, removes the standalone designated federal officer section that appeared in the previous version, which specified that a full-time federal employee would approve meeting agendas, call meetings and maintain public-facing information on the committee’s activities.
    • “In its place, the new charter refers more broadly to “the federal official responsible for ACCV oversight” calling or approving meetings. The revised charter also adds a provision allowing that federal official, if appointed by the HRSA administrator, to serve as temporary chair if ACCV members have not selected a chair and vice chair. The ACCV advises the HHS secretary on the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, including changes to the Vaccine Injury Table and how the government collects and uses vaccine adverse event data.
    • “The revised NVAC charter adds duties not previously included in the panel’s purview, directing members to weigh what it terms “non-immunization strategies,” including healthy lifestyle and disease prevention initiatives, off-label use of already approved drugs and dietary supplements marketed for immune support.”
  • Govexex tells us,
    • “The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association on Thursday said the Office of Personnel Management still has not sufficiently protected federal workers and retirees as part of a plan to collect claims-level health data in an effort to root out fraud.” * * *
    • “[I]n a letter to [OPM Director Scott] Kupor Thursday, NARFE National President William Shackelford said that while his organization appreciates the steps taken thus far to shield FEHBP and PSHBP participants’ identities, he remains troubled by OPM’s insistence that it be able to re-identify employees via their health records in the future. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, health care data should be not just pseudonymized, but de-identified entirely, he wrote.
    • “NARFE’s position is straightforward. OPM has moved in the right direction,” Shackelford wrote. “But we asked for de-identified data and OPM has offered pseudonymized data, and those are not the same commitment. Pseudonymization does not remove the risk that our members’ health information will be linked back to them; it makes that linkage a matter of OPM’s discretion, exercisable by whoever holds the relevant authority in any future administration.”
    • “Additionally, most of OPM’s reassurances about privacy and the data collection’s anti-fraud purpose exist solely within Kupor’s blog post, and not the proposal published in the Federal Register last month.”
  • Over 700 public comments were submitted by yesterday’s deadline. As the FEHBlog has noted, OPM is not giving FEHB and PSHB carriers and the OPM Inspector General credit for preventing most fraud, waste and abuse in these programs.
  • The American Hospital Association News informs us,
    • “The U.S. Trade Representative yesterday announced it is implementing a 10% or 12.5% tariff on 60 trading partners, which became effective today. These tariffs follow an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 for lacking or failing to enforce a ban on goods produced with forced labor, according to the agency. Nations that the USTR said had made commitments to adopt and effectively enforce forced labor import prohibitions will receive a 10% tariff, while nations that the agency said had failed to adopt a forced labor import ban will receive a 12.5% tariff. The USTR notice outlines which products are excluded from the new tariffs, including products already subject to Section 232 tariffs, products qualifying under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and certain pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients.”
  • and
    • “The Consumer Product Safety Commission yesterday announced it is modernizing the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, the national database for tracking consumer product-related injuries. The CPSC said that it will replace its manual coding process, used since 1972, with an electronic data exchange through a Qualified Information Network. The new system, NEISS-Remodel, will expand the network to all 50 states, up from 36 under the previous system. NEISS-R is expected to become fully operational by the beginning of 2027.” 

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • MedTech Dive reports,
    • It’s been over two months since Dr. Marty Makary stepped down from his post as FDA commissioner, and there has yet to be visible progress toward naming his permanent successor. The gap in leadership is sparking concerns among industry watchdogs that pharma could lack clear guidance on federal priorities for weeks or months to come.
    • The Trump administration has yet to name a nominee to replace acting commissioner Kyle Diamantas — and there are currently multiple hurdles in front of any confirmation process. In particular, the Senate isn’t going to be around much in the coming months. 
  • The Wall Street Journal relates,
    • “Biohackers, longevity enthusiasts and alternative medicine doctors want the peptide BPC-157. Now compounders may be one step closer to lawfully providing it. 
    • “The Food and Drug Administration’s Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee voted in favor of easing restrictions on six of seven peptides up for consideration, following strong warnings from the agency’s scientists. It’s now up to the FDA to decide whether to greenlight the drugs for compounding pharmacies to make—and pave the way for a peptide gold rush.
    • * * * “The committee voted against one peptide called Emideltide, evaluated for opioid withdrawal, chronic insomnia, and narcolepsy. David Pope, a pharmacist who voted affirmatively for other peptides, voted “no” on this one, citing a complex regimen and “potentially dangerous downstream consequences.”
  • USA Today tells us,
    • “Consumers will soon have a new over-the-counter pain relief option that combines Tylenol with naproxen, an anti-inflammatory medication.
    • “The Food and Drug Administration on July 24 approved the non-prescription combination of 650 mg of Tylenol (acetaminophen) and 220 mg of naproxen sodium.
    • “The non-opioid tablet can be used by adults and children aged 12 and ​older for temporary relief of headaches, back pain, muscle aches, toothache, menstrual cramps and minor pain from arthritis, the FDA said.
    • ‘Kenvue, which owns Tylenol, said the tablet combination will soon be available for purchase without a prescription at major retailers.”
  • Fierce Pharma informs us,
    • “With all eyes on Tavneos’ seemingly precarious approval status in the U.S., Amgen is advancing plans to defend the ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) drug it inherited in its $3.7 billion buyout of ChemoCentryx. 
    • “The California pharma on Thursday submitted data and analyses to the FDA to help secure a hearing in hopes of keeping Tavneos on the U.S. market. The package includes a third-party re-evaluation of the med’s controversial pivotal trial, real-world evidence and patient and HCP testimonials.
  • Cardiovascular Business lets us know,
    • “Penumbra is recalling specific lots of its RED 68 Perfusion Catheter due to an ongoing safety concern. 
    • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled that this is a Class II recall. This means using the device without following the manufacturer’s recommendations could lead to “temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences.” 
    • ‘The recall was put in place due to a risk of the catheters fracturing. Penumbra has said “manufacturing issues” are to blame, but the company is still investigating the issue to learn more.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today,
    • “As of July 24, 2026, the amount of acute respiratory illness causing people to seek health care is very low.
    • “Considering multiple data sources, COVID-19 activity is low and stable nationally but is beginning to show early signs of an increase in the West and South.
    • “RSV activity is very low in most areas of the country. Emergency department visits and hospitalizations for RSV are low but remain highest among infants and children younger than 4 years old.
    • “Seasonal influenza activity is low.
    • “Parainfluenza (PIV) is elevated nationally. Whooping cough (pertussis) continues to circulate at lower levels compared to post-pandemic peaks.”
  • The American Hospital Association News reports,
    • “There have been 2,318 confirmed measles cases in the U.S. so far this year, the most in the country since 1991, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 2,289 cases in 2025. Cases this year have been reported by 45 jurisdictions. The CDC said that 93% of cases are outbreak-associated. The vaccination status of 93% of cases is unvaccinated or unknown. The agency said that 7% of cases this year have been hospitalized, lower than last year’s figure of 11%.”
  • The Washington Post offers an opportunity to check out your county’ measles vaccination rates for kindgarteners.
    • “The share of U.S. counties where 95 percent or more of kindergartners were vaccinated against measles — the number doctors say is needed to achieve overall protection for the class, known as “herd immunity” — has dropped from 50 percent before the pandemic to 28 percent, according to The Post’s examination of the public records from 44 states and the District of Columbia.”
  • The Wall Street Journal tells us,
    • “Public-health officials are investigating four additional states as part of a multistate cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce that they warn could be even broader.
    • Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania are the latest states added to the investigation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The health agency said last week it was investigating the outbreak in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. 
    • “The CDC said epidemiologic data continued to show the outbreak stemmed from the consumption of iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms. Nearly 2,000 people who ate food from Taco Bell have been sickened in those nine states during the outbreak, the agency said. Nearly 100 people have been hospitalized. 
    • “The iceberg-lettuce outbreak might be even broader than what health authorities have found. The authorities are investigating a number of food-related outbreaks, including several involving cyclospora, a parasite that causes explosive diarrhea. For now, the authorities are probing the various cyclospora outbreaks as if they are distinct, but it is possible they are related and investigators so far haven’t been able to connect them.”
  • and
    • “Warmer winters and changes in land use are driving ticks carrying Lyme disease and alpha-gal syndrome into new areas such as Ohio and Michigan.
    • “In 2025, Lyme disease cases jumped more than 60% in Ohio and almost 80% in Michigan as blacklegged tick populations expanded.
    • “Lone-star ticks, which cause the meat allergy alpha-gal syndrome, are established in 19 counties in Ohio and five in Michigan.”
  • The New York Times points out,
    • “The same chemical process that turns a baking cake golden brown is at work aging your body’s cells. Over decades, your tissues, baking steadily at 98.6 degrees, slowly accumulate compounds called advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, as sugars interact with protein and fat in the bloodstream. The buildup of AGEs is a hallmark of the aging process, making tissues like collagen sticky and rigid and causing inflammation that can lead to heart disease, eye damage, kidney disease and diabetes.
    • “Researchers have tried unsuccessfully to develop medications that can stop AGEs from forming. But a new study, published on July 16 in the journal Nature Communications, describes a different tack: Scientists created an enzyme that cleans one of the most common AGEs from human tissue, helping to turn back the clock even after the aging compounds have settled in the body. This cleanse can help repair the tissue and has the potential to allow cells to act younger.
    • “It’s a small step in this bigger direction, because aging is very complicated,” said Aaron Cravens, a founder and the chief executive of Revel Pharmaceuticals, which developed the new enzyme, and the lead author of the study. “It’s the first time, I think, that anyone in the field has shown at the structural level that you can actually reverse some of these changes.”
  • MedPage adds,
    • “Exceptional memory at age 80 and beyond was not due simply to good genes, an analysis of prospective data suggested.
    • “The study assessed outcomes for superagers — people 80 or older with episodic memory at least as good as adults 20 or 30 years younger — and cognitively average controls.
    • “Genotype distributions and APOE status did not differ between groups, reported Ignazio Stefano Piras, PhD, of the Translational Genomics Research Institute at City of Hope in Phoenix, and co-authors.
    • “Neither APOE nor any of three polygenic risk scores predicted whether a person would be a superager, Piras and colleagues wrote in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy. Results were similar after accounting for global non-European or African ancestry.”
  • Health Day informs us,
    • “About 50% to 88% of children with autism experience motor skill challenges
    • “Organized sports — especially martial arts and aquatic training — can improve motor skills
    • “Consistently large improvements were seen in balance, coordination, overall motor skills and object control.”
  • and
    • “Increases in a problematic social media use may contribute to worsening attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms during adolescence, particularly among boys, according to a study published online July 17 in JAMA Network Open.”
  • The Wall Street Journal notes,
    • “Ipsen said its drug Bylvay missed the primary objective in a late-stage clinical trial for biliary atresia, a rare liver disease affecting babies.
    • “Bylvay missed the study’s primary objective of showing an improvement in native liver survival rates compared to a placebo, Ipsen said.
    • “Ipsen said biliary atresia, the leading cause of pediatric liver transplants, has no approved therapeutic options beyond surgery or transplant.”
  • Per BioPharma Dive,
    • “Sanofi is calling it quits on an experimental eczema drug that it had seen as a potential successor to its blockbuster medication Dupixent, according to a Friday announcement.
    • “Sanofi had said in January that it intended to seek clearance of the drug, amlitelimab, in atopic dermatitis despite mixed late-stage study results and signs of possible safety concerns. On Friday, though, the French pharmaceutical firm said that, during a pipeline review, it found that the “totality of efficacy and safety evidence generated to date” doesn’t support further development of amlitelimab in that indication.
    • “Sanofi’s decision follows a recent move by Amgen and Kyowa Kirin to shelve a similar experimental medicine. The pharma company will continue testing amlitelimab in celiac disease, though, and is slated to reveal data from a mid-stage study by the end of the year.”

From the U.S. healthcare business and artificial intelligence front,

  • Fierce Healthcare reports,
    • “HCA Healthcare on Friday affirmed its earlier warnings about Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchange subsidies fallout, telling analysts that patients who dropped off marketplace plan coverage due to increased premiums have “migrated almost one for one” to uninsurance. 
    • “The country’s largest for-profit brought in $20.23 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 8.7% year-over-year, net income of $1.69 billion, up 2.8%, and adjusted EBITDA of $4.027 billion, up 4.6%, according to financial results published Friday morning. The company also reported diluted earnings per share increasing 11.6% to $7.62 per share.
    • “In particular, a payer mix shift driven by increased uninsured volumes had an “unfavorable impact” on income of approximately $400 million before income taxes, above its estimates from earlier in the year.”
  • and
    • “Clinician-led artificial intelligence platform Anterior and health tech company Stellarus entered a strategic partnership Thursday to tackle automating prior authorizations.
    • “The partnership aims to support providers through automating tasks—such as case research and policy application—to allow teams to focus on complex determinations. The companies say providers will receive quicker, first-time approvals, ultimately giving members quicker care access. 
    • “Stellarus provides the healthcare technology platform, integration expertise and operational experience to help health plans put AI into practice, while Anterior brings leading clinical AI to automate the research, documentation and policy application that support prior authorization,” said Vanessa Colella, Stellarus president and CEO.”
  • and
    • “Addressing healthcare’s biggest challenges will require payers and providers working together.
    • “That’s why the team at Aetna has spent the past several years investing in ways to bridge those trust gaps and better unite the two sides of the industry that are often at odds. And a new survey suggests that work is paying off.
    • “Morning Consult polled 723 provider executives across multiple disciplines on Aetna’s behalf, and found an average provider trust score of 6.1 on a scale of one to 10. By comparison, a similar poll conducted in the first quarter found a 5.4 trust score.”
  • Modern Healthcare relates,
    • “Surgery Partners plans to sell its ownership interest in two Idaho hospitals to Intermountain Health.
    • ‘The proposed transaction, which values the facilities at an estimated $1.15 billion, would include Surgery Partners’ Idaho Falls Community Hospital and Mountain View Hospital, also in Idaho Falls, along with affiliated clinics.
    • “Surgery Partners is expected to receive about $795 million in the transaction, according to a Friday news release.”
       
  • MedTech Dive tells us,
    • “Edwards Lifesciences reported strong sales of its heart valves in the second quarter and outlined several upcoming catalysts expected to maintain solid growth rates, starting with an anticipated Medicare coverage expansion.
    • “Sales were better than the company expected for transcatheter aortic valve replacement devices, Edwards’ largest product line, as well as newer repair and replacement treatments for mitral and tricuspid diseases, due to increasing clinical demand, executives said on a Thursday earnings call.
    • “CEO Bernard Zovighian tied TAVR demand to growing evidence backing earlier use of the procedure to treat aortic stenosis patients and predicted the “durable” momentum would support the company’s 10% total sales growth target long term.”
  • Fierce Pharma informs us,
    • “After a post-[July 4th] holiday lull, prescriptions for GLP-1s have more than bounced back. Weekly prescriptions for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill and Eli Lilly’s Foundayo reached new highs during the previous week, collecting 169,800 and 26,760, respectively, according to IQVIA data cited by Citi. The two oral drugs’ previous records were about 161.5K and 24.3K, respectively. 
    • “Other GLP-1 drugs also enjoyed a boost, as total GLP-1 scripts across obesity and diabetes increased 6.6% sequentially, according to Citi.
    • “Against this backdrop, Lilly’s oral Foundayo seemed to enjoy a small inflection point, with a total 24,303 scripts notably breaking away from its roughly 20K level in the prior five weeks.  
    • “Meanwhile, joining the bigger trend, Wegovy pill scripts dropped to 147.5K during the week, versus about 153K the prior week or 161.5K at its peak. But the contribution of the oral version to the overall Wegovy scripts remained stable at around a third, per Citi’s note.” 

Midweek report

Simplicity is a virtue

From Washington, DC

  • Beckers Payer Issues calls attention to eight bills in Congress that payers should be following.
  • Per a Senate news release,
    • “Today the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted to favorably report multiple bills making health care more affordable and accessible to American families.” * * *
    • “The National Plan for Epilepsy Act, Expedited Access to Biosimilars Act, and Making America’s Food Safer Act passed unanimously 22-0 as amended in an en bloc vote. The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, CLEAR LABELS Act, EMPOWER for Health Act, Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2025, and Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act passed 21-1 as amended in an en bloc vote. The SAFE Drugs Act of 2026 passed as amended 17-5, the INSULIN Act of 2026 passed as amended 17-5, and the Childhood Diabetes Reduction Act passed as amended 12-10.”
  • Bloomberg Law reports,
    • “Legislation advanced on a bipartisan basis by the House oversight panel Wednesday aims to regulate pharmacy benefit managers contracting with health benefits for federal employees.
    • “The measure (H.R. 6610) would set standards for pharmacy reimbursement, require that drug rebates be applied to copayments and coinsurances, and prohibit PBMs from steering beneficiaries to specific pharmacies for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The measure was approved 40-2.
    • “For too long, federal employees and tax payer-funded federal agencies have been held captive by a health care system manipulated at every turn by three large PBMs and their affiliate companies,” said Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.).”
  • FEHBlog observation: The bill would price fix small molecule drug prescriptions. It’s not a good idea from a market place standpoint to set prices in statutes. The next step for this bill is House floor consideration, but the House will be on a District work break beginning tomorrow until August 31. So, there is time for cooler heads to prevail.
  • CBS News relates,
    • “The Trump administration is forging ahead with a controversial plan to collect the medical records of millions of federal workers and retirees, as well as their family members.
    • “The Office of Personnel Management said in a notice posted last month that it will begin routinely collecting identifiable, personal health information on more than 8 million people — despite concerns from privacy advocates and Democrats, who have demanded the agency drop the plan. The notice will go into effect July 24, allowing OPM to begin its collection at any point afterward.” * * *
    • “In its latest notice, OPM argues that the vast trove of data is necessary to ferret out fraud and overpayments in the FEHB and PSHB programs. Those programs cost roughly $80 billion a year, with about $50 billion covered by the federal government and $30 billion funded by enrollees. The Trump administration has ramped up efforts, led by Vice President JD Vance, to curtail what it says is rampant fraud and misuse of publicly funded health benefits.
    • “The effort still faces criticism that it doesn’t go far enough to protect the privacy of federal workers and their families.
    • “Clearly, this administration has not earned our trust with Americans’ sensitive data,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said in an emailed statement to KFF Health News. “If OPM wants to work in good faith to reduce fraud, they should come to Congress, including to folks like me who are engaged on this issue and represent many federal workers and retirees and their families, and work to build consensus and trust before implementing these sweeping changes.”
  • FEHBlog observation: OPM overlooks the fact that carriers, who hold the financial risk in the FEHB and PSHB programs, already focus on preventing fraud, waste, and abuse, in cooperation with the OPM Inspector General’s office. Carriers submit annual reports on those efforts to OPM.
  • Per an OPM news release,
    • “ICYMI: OPM Director Scott Kupor Discusses Merit-Based Federal Hiring and Restoring Accountability on The Ingraham Angle.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review informs us,
    • “President Donald Trump plans to place tariffs on generic drug imports, building on the 100% tariff he imposed on patented pharmaceutical products in April. While that policy exempted generic drugs and biosimilars for the time being, the White House said it would reassess the exemption within a year. 
    • “Here are three things to know from the latest announcement, made in a July 21 Truth Social post:
      • “The tariff schedule would be rolled out over three years. Starting Aug. 1, generic drugs will continhttps://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-joins-genesis-mission-ai-chronic-disease-research.htmlue entering the U.S. tariff-free for a two-year period. After that, the tariff rises to 100% for one year, then to 200% thereafter.
      • “President Trump said the schedule is meant to “reshore” generic pharmaceutical production into the U.S., calling the escalating tariffs a “penalty” for companies that do not build manufacturing plants and equipment domestically within the two-year window.
      • “President Trump said the policy on patented, branded or innovative drugs “will remain as is.” Under the April policy, those tariffs are set to take effect July 31 for large companies and Sept. 29 for smaller firms, with reduced or zero rates available to companies that reach most favored nation pricing agreements with HHS and onshoring agreements with the Commerce Department. This announcement effectively replaces the one-year review window for generics with a defined, longer timeline.”
  • The American Hospital Association News points out,
    • “The Department of Health and Human Services July 22 announced that it will participate in the Genesis Mission, an artificial intelligence initiative focusing on scientific research that originated from a November 2025 executive order. HHS will work with the Office of Science and Technology Policy to launch a series of science and technology challenges involving AI, including one focusing on identifying root causes of chronic disease and others on pediatric cancer research and drug discovery and development.
    • “In addition, OSTP July 22 released a report, “Science: A New Golden Age,” on scientific initiatives using AI. The report outlines four pillars: revitalizing America’s science and technology enterprise through recommendations such as refocusing on individual scientists and diversifying funding mechanisms; securing U.S. dominance in critical and emerging technologies through efforts such as public-private partnerships and challenges; ensuring science and technology betters the lives of all Americans through recommendations such as training and career pathways; and launching a golden age of science through efforts such as the Genesis Mission. An annex to the report, the “White House Fiscal Year 2028 Research and Development Budget Priorities Memorandum,” consists of directives for federal agencies to implement recommendations in the report.” 
  • Per Department of Health and Human Services news release,
    • “Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a notification urging every State Medicaid Director to phase out the use of mercury-containing dental fillings by restricting or ending their respective state’s Medicaid coverage for dental procedure codes for “dental amalgams.” Dental amalgams are a material that combines mercury with other heavy metals to fill cavities but pose health and environmental risks.”
  • Healthcare Dive notes,
    • “The Department of Labor’s employee benefits arm proposed a rule Wednesday that would allow insurers to share mandatory group health plan disclosures with their beneficiaries electronically.
    • “Many of the communications, like summary plan descriptions, claims denials or notices that coverage can continue after a job loss, are currently sent via physical mail. But if the rule is finalized, plans will be able to post the documents online and notify a member by text or email when a disclosure is available.
    • “It’s “a big step forward in how Americans receive important information about their health benefits,” Daniel Aronowitz, who leads the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, said during a press briefing.”

From the Food and Drug Administration,

  • MedPage Today reports,
    • “The FDA approved zidesamtinib (Jideytro) for previously treated adults with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), drugmaker GSK announced Wednesday.
    • “Zidesamtinib is a next-generation, brain-penetrant ROS1-selective inhibitor designed to overcome ROS1 resistance mutations.
    • “Approval was based on the phase I/II ARROS-1 trial that included patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC who were previously treated with a ROS1 kinase inhibitor. In the overall population of 117 patients, the objective response rate (ORR) was 44%, with rates of duration of response at 6 and 12 months of 82% and 69%, respectively.”
  • MedTech Dive relates,
    • “Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday it received Food and Drug Administration de novo authorization for its Ottava robotic surgery system to perform multiple procedures in general surgery.
    • “The authorization brings to the U.S. market a second heavyweight challenger to Intuitive’s da Vinci robot in soft tissue procedures, following Medtronic’s FDA clearance in late 2025. A wave of smaller companies, including CMR SurgicalDistalmotion and Moon Surgical, are also launching robotic systems in the U.S., giving Intuitive its first competition in more than two decades.
    • “J&J said it will launch Ottava with select U.S. customers while working to obtain additional indications and regulatory jurisdictions over time.”
  • Per FDA news releases,
    • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the first manufacturer selected for the Technology-Enabled Meaningful Patient Outcomes (TEMPO) for Digital Health Devices Pilot. The participating manufacturer intends to offer a device for use in providing care expected to be covered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center’s ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model and intended to improve health outcomes for Americans managing certain chronic diseases.
    • “The FDA selected Dexcom, Inc., as the first participant in the TEMPO pilot. The Dexcom Glucose Health Program, which the FDA will continue to evaluate for its intended use during the pilot, is intended to address two clinical use areas in the ACCESS Model.
    • “The Dexcom Glucose Health Program is intended to enable patients aligned to the ACCESS model and their healthcare professionals or caregivers to monitor metabolic and nutritional status, receive tailored guidance, and access real-time data and AI insights for informed decision-making and behavioral modifications. The program is intended as an aid in the screening for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes through integrated digital health metrics. It may also contribute to improving glycemic control and lowering HbA1c in people with prediabetes.”
  • and
    • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced two actions targeting petroleum-based color additives in food, continuing the agency’s broader efforts to Make America Healthy Again. The FDA is issuing a final order revoking the authorized use of Orange B as a color additive in food and is proposing to revoke the authorized use of Citrus Red No. 2 as a color additive in food.”

No Surprises Act News

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “A controversial process for arbitrating medical billing disputes awarded nearly $15 billion in payouts to healthcare providers last year, according to new federal data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal, more than triple the total for 2024.
    • Doctor groups representing radiologists, anesthesiologists and emergency-room physicians have been among the winners under the setup, which was created under a 2020 law meant to protect patients from surprise medical bills. Insurers have to make the awarded payouts, and they have generally ended up on the losing end since arbitration began four years ago.
    • “For 2025, total payouts under the arbitration process reached $14.85 billion, according to a Journal analysis of new, previously unreleased data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The figure for 2024 was $4.08 billion, according to the analysis.
    • ““It’s shocking that it’s rising so fast,” said Jack Hoadley, a research professor emeritus at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms.”
  • FEHBlog observation: It is indeed a big bowl of wrong.

From the judicial front,

  • Fierce Healthcare reports,
    • “The Trump administration will appeal a Georgia court ruling that triggered a broad recalculation of insurers’ Medicare Advantage star rating scores for 2026.
    • “In court documents filed Tuesday, federal agencies said they would appeal the ruling to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. In late May, a judge in Georgia’s Southern District Court came down in favor of Clover Health, tossing 20 measures that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services used to calculate its scores.
    • “The court cut 10 of those measures, as the judge determined CMS exceeded its statutory authority in the data sources used, while the remaining 10 were rejected because the court ruled CMS did not meet its rulemaking and comment requirements to use them.”
    • “The ruling also triggered several follow-up lawsuits from other payers over the calculations, including Elevance Health, Alignment Healthcare and SCAN Health Plan.”
  • Per a Department of Justice news release,
    • “A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida convicted a Florida licensed pharmacist and pharmacy owner yesterday for her role in dispensing over 300,000 oxycodone 30mg pills to pharmacy patrons who had no medical need for the drug.
    • “According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Olushola Yusuf, 60, of Tampa, dispensed oxycodone to nearly all her pharmacy customers. Yusuf charged customers approximately 10 times the typical cost of the drug and required payment from them in cash. In total, Yusuf dispensed at least 335,351 pills of oxycodone 30mg during the conspiracy. Oxycodone 30mg is the maximum strength available of the drug and is both sought after and potentially dangerous due to its potency. It is typically prescribed to seriously ill patients, such as those suffering from chronic cancer pain or traumatic injuries.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • Beckers Clincal Leadership informs us,
    • “In the nation’s largest outbreak of cyclosporiasis, the CDC has reported 4,940 lab-confirmed and 341 hospitalizations across 41 states, according to a July 21 update. 
    • “Between May 1 and July 20, the federal health agency reported 4,173 domestic cases and 767 illnesses acquired outside the U.S. A majority of hospitalizations, 308, are also domestically linked.
    • “In 2025, the U.S. recorded 3,955 cyclosporiasis cases, meaning the number of illnesses over the past 11 weeks have exceeded last year’s total, according to the Washington Post
    • “The FDA and CDC’s traceback investigations have “converged” on now-recalled iceberg lettuce grown in Mexico by Taylor Farms, one of the largest fresh-produce suppliers for the U.S. Despite a false positive test, federal officials seem to have traced a significant portion of the outbreak to Taylor Farms. 
    • “Normally, cyclosporiasis cases annually peak between May 1 and Aug. 31. This year, a spike of illnesses had a June 26 onset date, according to the CDC. Michigan and surrounding states appear to be hardest-hit, with Michigan officials reporting 6,571 cases and 102 hospitalizations as of July 21, and Ohio logging 1,246 confirmed cases as of July 16.” 
  • The Washington Post reports,
    • “The United States has now reported the most measles cases in any year since 1991, not only surpassing all of last year’s record total, but also reaching the highest level in 35 years, with more than five months still remaining in 2026.
    • “The country reported 2,295 cases as of Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University’s U.S. measles tracker. The total surpasses last year’s 2,289 cases and is the highest annual count since the highly contagious disease was eliminated in the United States in 2000.
    • “The fact that we’ve reached this total this early in the year is really a reflection of those large outbreaks earlier in the year, particularly in South Carolina and Utah,” said William Moss, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “It’s very frustrating. This is a reflection that we have been unable to stop measles virus transmission in this country.” * * *
    • “The latest milestone underscores how the country has entered a new phase in its battle with measles, with repeated new infections of the deadly disease igniting sustained outbreaks in multiple states rather than staying concentrated in a few undervaccinated communities.”
  • The American Medical Association lets us know “6 things patients should know about red light therapy.”
    • Does red light therapy really work for wrinkles, hair growth and to boost skin health? The latest “Health vs. Hype” episode explores the facts.
  • The Wall Street Journal points out,
    • “Architect Lloyd Alter states dangerous bathroom designs cause falls, the leading injury-related death for adults aged 65 and older.
    • “Freestanding bathtubs and shower-tubs are dangerous due to slippery surfaces, thin edges and a lack of grab bars.
    • “Toilets also present fall risks due to straining and high “comfort height” designs; grab bars and lower toilets are recommended solutions.”
  • STAT News relates,
    • “Europeans can now receive a device that can partially restore their vision loss. Americans may not have to wait long to get it, either.
    • “Science Corporation announced Wednesday that European regulators had approved the commercial sale of the startup’s retinal implant that improves eyesight for patients with age-related macular degeneration in their central vision, enough to read books and road signs more clearly. 
    • “We have a cochlear implant for vision now,” said Science founder and CEO Max Hodak.
    • “The implant, called PRIMA, also received a Humanitarian Use Device designation from the FDA in March, which puts the device on track to debut in the United States early next year if it receives agency approval. If it hits this milestone, PRIMA would be the second brain-computer interface (BCI) to enter the U.S. market.” * * *
    • “The Science device’s impact could be substantial. Geographic atrophy accounts for 20% of all legal blindness due to age-related macular degeneration and affects more than 1 million people in the U.S. PRIMA received FDA’s special designation because Science intends to initially use it for only the most severe cases of atrophy, which affects fewer than 8,000 people per year.” 
       
  • MedPage Today notes,
    • “Five adverse pregnancy outcomes were independently associated with increased peripheral artery disease (PAD) risk later on.
    • “These associations remained in co-sibling analyses, suggesting that familial factors are not to blame.
    • “Women with adverse pregnancy outcomes should have lifelong clinical follow up.”
  • Per Health Day,
    • “Cognitive function, manual dexterity, and breathing ability all play an important role in helping people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) use their inhalers correctly, according to a study published online May 27 in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.”
  • Per BioPharma Dive,
    • “A genetic medicine from Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has succeeded in two late-stage clinical trials focused on a condition that increases the risk of sudden, potentially life-threatening cases of pancreas swelling.
    • “The medicine, known as plozasiran, is a small piece of synthetic RNA designed to lower fat levels in the bloodstream. It does this by degrading the instructions cells use to create a protein that slows down triglyceride metabolism. Plozasiran is already approved, and sold under the brand name Redemplo, as a treatment for a rare disease that leads to extremely high levels of triglycerides. Arrowhead, though, is trying to expand the drug’s use.
    • “Positive results released Wednesday should help in that mission. Across the two trials, which enrolled adults with “severe hypertriglyceridemia,” an under-the-skin injection of Arrowhead’s drug once every three months respectively cut median triglyceride levels by 79% and 81% after one year. The reduction seen in placebo-treated patients, meanwhile, was around 27%.”

From the U.S. healthcare business and artificial intelligence report,

  • Beckers Payer Issues reports,
    • “Molina Healthcare reported $60 million in net income for the second quarter of 2026, a 76% year-over-year drop from $255 million.
    • “The insurer attributed the decline mainly to lower premium revenue and a higher medical loss ratio. Total revenue for the quarter was nearly $10.9 billion, down 4.8% year-over-year. 
    • “Even with the profit decline, Molina raised its full year 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to at least $5.25 per diluted share, up from at least $5, and lifted its GAAP guidance to at least $2.15 per share. The company said a $1.50 per share improvement in its Medicare business was offset by an equal decline in its ACA marketplace business, and that without the marketplace reduction, full year adjusted guidance would have risen to $6.75 per share.
    • “Molina’s MLR in Q2 was 92.2%, up from 90.4% in the second quarter of 2025. The company had approximately 4.9 million members as of June 30, down from 5.7 million a year earlier. Marketplace membership fell to 283,000, from 655,000 at the end of 2025 and 690,000 a year ago. The company tied the decrease to its pricing and product strategy, the expiration of enhanced ACA subsidies and new program integrity measures.”
  • Fierce Healthcare relates,
    • “Community Health Systems fell short of the market’s earnings and revenue expectations during its second quarter, posting a loss when excluding funds received for its recent hospital divestitures. 
    • “The for-profit reported Wednesday after market close net operating revenues of $2.83 billion. Net income attributable to stockholders was $70 million, or 50 cents per diluted share, but fell to a 19 cents per diluted share loss after excluding the facility sales and other adjusting items.
    • “The reported revenue and adjusted earnings are about $70 million and nine cents per share behind analysts’ estimates, per Seeking Alpha.
    • “The latter also outpaces the five cents per share net loss the system had logged for the same period last year, despite a same-store net operating revenue increase of 2.4% and same-store admissions and adjusted admissions gains of 1.9% and 2.9%. 
    • “The company primarily attributed the year-over-year performance decrease to “an unfavorable change in payor mix and higher medical specialist fees.” These were offset by improved volumes, higher reimbursement rates, greater net benefit from supplemental reimbursement programs and tighter contract labor and professional liability expenses, according to the release.”
  • and
    • Visana Health, a virtual women’s health provider, has redesigned its annual visit to be more comprehensive and personalized.
    • “Visana’s Complete Women’s Health Visit combines preventive care, symptom evaluation and expertise across gynecology, primary care and endocrinology to tailor care to each patient. The telehealth visits are 45 minutes long and go beyond a pap smear and mammogram to include hormonal, metabolic, cardiovascular, reproductive, sexual and emotional wellbeing assessments. 
    • “It’s really a tailored visit to the individual and then optimized for what her risks are and what her questions are,” Barbara Levy, M.D., chief medical officer at Visana, told Fierce Healthcare.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review tells us,
    • “Seven hundred rural hospitals across the U.S., or about one-third of all rural facilities in the country, are at risk of closing due to severe financial challenges, according to a July 21 Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform analysis.
    • “The analysis comprises 264 hospitals that are at immediate risk of closure, according to the report. In almost every state, rural hospitals are at risk of closure. In most states, more than 25% of rural hospitals are at risk and in 11 states, 50% or more are at risk.
    • “The latest data is a slight decrease from CHQPR’s May analysis, which found 720 hospitals were at risk of closure with 294 at immediate risk. 
    • “More than 100 rural U.S. hospitals have closed in the past decade, with 110 closing since 2015, according to the report. Fifty-three hospitals have ended inpatient services since the beginning of 2023 to qualify for federal grants only available to rural emergency hospitals.”
  • The Cotiviti consulting firm discusses fraud, waste and abuse in behavioral health care.
    • “Behavioral health continues to be shaped by expanding access, evolving care delivery models, and regulatory change. While these advancements have improved patient access to critical services, they have also introduced new complexities for payers working to maintain program integrity and reduce fraud, waste and abuse (FWA) risks.
    • “For health plans, particularly those serving Medicaid and other government-sponsored populations, identifying emerging billing patterns, strengthening review processes, and aligning internal teams around consistent standards can help reduce financial leakage while supporting appropriate care delivery.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review points out,
    • “GLP-1 medications are linked to a 17.3% drop in long-term sickness leave over four years, according to a working paper published in July by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
    • “Researchers compared 7,011 patients who started Ozempic during the drug’s first 17 months of availability to a matched group of 7,011 patients who initiated treatment four years later.”
  • and
    • “Where the GLP-1 compounding fight stands: 5 things to know.”
  • Per Fierce Healthcare.
    • “Samsung rolled out a beta version of its artificial intelligence-powered personal health assistant on Tuesday.
    • “The new AI assistant—dubbed Samsung Health Assistant—is embedded into the Samsung Health app and is currently available to eligible users across the U.S. It allows users to ask health questions and receive personalized guidance and recommendations through its “unique knowledge base.” Insights have been validated by a team of physicians and certified health coaches, executives say.
    • “Our new Health Assistant advances Samsung’s vision for Connected Care by giving users a deeper understanding of their mind and body through daily health monitoring and increasing opportunities for early detection,” said Hon Pak, M.D., senior vice president and head of the digital health team at Samsung Electronics, in a statement.”

Noteworthy Event

  • The Washington Post reports,
    • “An Australian woman gave birth to identical quadruplet girls last week, all from one fertilized egg that split into four.
    • “The chance of conceiving monozygotic quadruplets is 1 in 15 million, said Alexa Bendall, a maternal fetal specialist, in an interview released by Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Queensland. 
    • “The girls are named Emily, Harriet, Catherine and Alexa — in the doctor’s honor. 
    • Triplet and quadruplet pregnancies are high risk for complications for the mother and children throughout gestation, compared with twins, according to scientific research by Cambridge University Press.
    • “From an academic perspective, it’s really interesting,” Bendall said. “From a human perspective, to be able to be part of the family’s journey and come out with four beautiful babies and a healthy mum is very precious.”

Monday update

From Washington, DC

  • House Majority Leader Stephen Scalise lets us know,
    • On Tuesday, [July 21] the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. First votes expected: 1:30 p.m. Last votes expected: 8:30 p.m. * * *
    • Legislation Considered Pursuant to a Rule:
    • Begin Consideration of H.R. 8800 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (Sponsored by Rep. Rogers (AL) / Armed Services Committee)
    • H.R. 6955 – Main Street Capital Access Act (Sponsored by Rep. Hill / Financial Services Committee)
    • H.R. 9770 – Continuing Appropriations Act, 2027 (Sponsored by Rep. Cole / Appropriations Committee)
  • Beckers Hospital Review reports,
    • “TrumpRx, the federal direct-to-consumer drug discount website President Donald Trump launched Feb. 5, reaches its six-month mark Aug. 5. The site has grown from 40 branded drugs at launch to 92 in July, with more than 600 generics added in May. But that catalog still covers fewer than 12% of the more than 800 brand-name drugs made by the 17 manufacturers that signed most-favored-nation pricing deals with the administration, according to an NPR analysis of an FDA drug database published July 16.” * * *
    • “Health policy researchers told NPR that TrumpRx is most useful for uninsured and underinsured cash-paying patients, particularly those seeking fertility treatment or obesity medications that insurance frequently excludes. That is not the majority of prescription drug users. Insured patients are often better off checking their copay first, a caveat TrumpRx displays on the site.”
  • Beckers Payer Issues adds,
    • “Basing Medicaid drug prices on what other wealthy countries pay could save 47 states and the District of Columbia a combined $8.6 billion — about 35% of net spending on the drugs studied — according to research published July 15 in JAMA.
    • “The analysis, led by Thomas Hwang, MD, of Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital, modeled the CMS Generating Cost Reductions for US Medicaid, or GENEROUS, model
    • “Under most-favored-nation pricing, drugmakers give participating state Medicaid programs added rebates whenever Medicaid’s net price surpasses the price paid abroad. 
    • “CMS announced the voluntary model in November 2025 and launched it in January. It will run five years, and 17 pharmaceutical companies had agreed to participate, as of May, in exchange for protection from pharmaceutical tariffs.”
  • Per a Government Accountability Office news release,
    • “The Office of Personnel Management has undergone significant workforce changes in the last 2 years.
    • “Between December 2024 and March 2026:
      • OPM’s staff decreased by 35%
      • The agency eliminated 10 offices
      • 57% of employees who left OPM had 11 or more years of service—representing a loss of institutional knowledge
    • “These changes risk worsening pre-existing skills gaps we previously recommended OPM address. In addition, the OPM Office of the Inspector General identified the agency’s workforce reduction as a top management challenge for 2026, citing immediate gaps in operational capacity.”
  • A guest author, Kevin Hennecken (LinkedIn link), added a post (OPM link) to the OPM Director’s Secrets of OPM blog. He discusses the Tech Force that OPM is developing under the Dirctor’s leadership.

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • The Washington Post reports,
    • “The Food and Drug Administration said Sunday that a laboratory finding showing cyclospora contamination in a sample of shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico was a false positive. 
    • “But the agency did not back away from its conclusion that the company remains linked to a multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis through its traceback investigation. 
    • “FDA’s traceback investigation and outbreak data continue to converge on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms locations in central Mexico,” the agency said on social media Monday afternoon. It said there was “overwhelming epidemiological data” to support the voluntary recall.” * * *
    • “Federal and state investigators continue to examine thousands cases of cyclosporiasis nationwide. Michigan on Monday reported more than6,000 cases.
    • “It may not be just Taco Bell, it may not be just Taylor Farms, it may not be just lettuce,” said Barbara Kowalcyk, director of George Washington University’s Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security. “Lots of products carry the risk of being contaminated with cyclospora.”
    • “Other products could still be implicated, Kowalcyk said. “Next week it could be something else. It could be blueberries or raspberries or basil… or a food vehicle that we haven’t identified as a way of transmitting this pathogen,” she said. “The bottom line is this investigation is not over. It’s not just Taco Bell. It’s probably not just iceberg lettuce.”
  • The New York Times adds,
    • “The leading suspect, it seemed, was the cilantro.
    • “Weeks before an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, now traced at least in part to iceberg lettuce, laid low thousands of Americans this summer, the New York City Health Department investigated a smaller outbreak. Testing labs and doctors notified the city that people were coming down with the intestinal illness, which is caused by a parasite and can result in explosive diarrhea and other types of gastric distress.
    • “The New York investigation back in April — one of multiple case clusters the city’s disease detectives have pursued this year — led to cilantro.
    • “But how exactly do health authorities figure out how people got sick?
    • “City officials shared details of the cilantro case with The New York Times. The city’s work is only one link in a chain that also involves state and federal disease surveillance efforts, but it helps illustrate how complicated it can be to pinpoint sources of contamination in a global food-supply system. The C.D.C. says it is continuing to investigate cyclosporiasis cases unrelated to the iceberg lettuce contamination.
    • “So far this year, 442 cases of cyclosporiasis have been diagnosed in the city — far above the average of 216 cases for an entire year during the period 2019 to 2024.”
  • MedTech Dive relates,
    • “Resmed has contacted customers about a ventilator issue linked to five serious injuries, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.
    • “A subset of Astral 100 and Astral 150 ventilators can inadvertently enter a fail-safe state and stop delivering therapy, creating a risk of serious injury or death.
    • Resmed informed customers of the issue on June 25, asking them to continue using the devices with precautions. The FDA shared the message in an early alert notification last week.

No Surprises Act News

  • The American Hospital Association News reports,
    • “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released guidance July 17 on new remittance advice remark codes required for use following updates to the No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution process. RARCs are standardized codes that convey information about claims processing. The guidance specifies circumstances in which group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage must use each RARC and technical instructions to facilitate usage. CMS said that plans and issuers can continue to use claim adjustment reason codes they consider most appropriate for any claim adjustment. The RARCs specified apply for items and services furnished on or after Jan. 1, 2027.”

From the judicial front,

  • Bloomberg Law reports,
    • “Anthropic PBC and a group of authors received final approval Monday of their $1.5 billion settlement to end a copyright class action over the AI company’s downloading of millions of pirated books, $122 million of which will go to the authors’ attorneys and litigation costs.
    • “The pact is the largest copyright class action settlement in US history and one of the first deals in the dozens of similar lawsuits pending against AI giants including OpenAI Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., and Google. It provides about $3,100 per author of more than 480,000 works Anthropic downloaded from pirate libraries Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror.
    • “As of April, claims for 440,490 of the works have been filed.
    • “The deal “provides meaningful relief” to the authors and publishers given the potential range of relief, “especially since further litigation would likely be complex, expensive, lengthy, and risky,” said Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin of the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
    • “Success at trial was not assured, and a loss would have left the Class with no recourse.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • Cardiovascular Business reports,
    • “More than 56% of U.S. adults between the ages of 30 to 79 years old are now eligible to start undergoing statins, according to new findings published in JAMA.
    • “Those numbers are based on the new dyslipidemia guidelines published in March by the American College of CardiologyAmerican Heart Association and several other leading medical societies.[2] The 2026 guidelines included several major changes, the researchers noted. The age range targeted for treatment broadened from 40–75 to 30–79, for example, and clinicians started focusing on 30-year risk instead of just 10-year risk. 
    • “What do these updates mean for patient care? According to the team’s analysis, many more patients—approximately 21.5 million—are now eligible for statins. 
    • “The shift to a longer view of cardiovascular disease risk is a sea change for doctors in counseling patients,” lead author Timothy S. Anderson, MD, a primary care physician and health quality researcher with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said in a statement. “We wanted to better understand the potential population-health effect of this shift.”
  • The American Medical Association lets us know what doctors want their patients to know about Crohn’s Disease.
    • “Crohn’s disease is a condition that can affect any part of the digestive system. While it affects people throughout their lives in different ways, more treatment options are now available. Physicians are also finding promising lifestyle adjustments to help with the disease.”
  • Health Day tells us,
    • “Higher levels of testosterone in girls during puberty are associated with mental health symptoms such as depression and anxiety.
    • “Testosterone increases were more significant than other hormonal changes, including estrogen.
    • “Hormones can impact the brain before puberty becomes physically apparent.”
  • and
    • “Heart-healthy vegetables may differ for men and women
    • “Men benefit most from legumes, while women benefit most from cruciferous vegetables, research shows
    • “Even one daily serving is linked to better health.”
  • The Wall Street Journal adds,
    • “An American Heart Association statement says drinking up to five cups of coffee a day is safe for most adults and might benefit heart health.
    • “Consuming three to five eight-ounce cups of coffee daily is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes.
    • “The potential benefits of coffee can be diluted or eliminated by adding sugar, syrups and creamers with high saturated fat.”
  • Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News relates,
    • “A vaccine to prevent pancreatic cancer, targeting common KRAS mutations, was found to be safe and stimulated KRAS-specific T-cell responses in 90% of study participants who were at high risk of developing pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), according to Phase I clinical trial results. After a median follow-up of 16.5 months, none of the participants developed pancreatic cancer, and some of the precancerous lesions shrank or stopped growing. “The study represents the first proof of concept for the use of vaccines for interception of pancreatic cancer in human patients.
    • “The findings are published in Cancer Discovery, in the paper, “First-in-human Testing of a Mutant KRAS Vaccine for Pancreatic Cancer Interception in High-risk Cohorts.”

From the U.S. healthcare business and artificial intelligence front,

  • AHIP reports today that “Health Plans Are on Track to Streamline Prior Authorization.”
  • Beckers Payer Issues introduces the leader of the BCBS affiliate in every state and five AI execs driving health insurers’ strategies
  • Healio relates,
    • “Variation in facility fees was linked to significant differences in cost of cardiology services with major national insurers, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
    • “Facility fees varied by nearly $30,000 for certain cardiology procedures, with UnitedHealthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield having the highest facility prices and Aetna consistently having the lowest, researchers reported.”
  • BioPharma Dive tells us,
    • “Nearly four times as many Americans are taking a GLP-1 weight loss drug now compared to two years ago. But about 20% still aren’t using an FDA-approved medicine, despite efforts to curb compounded copycats, according to a recent Gallup survey. The number could be even higher. Another 12% weren’t sure if they were using a brand-name medication.
  • and
    • “Tempus AI said Monday it has agreed to buy Personalis for $1.5 billion. 
    • “Fremont, California-based Personalis makes a molecular residual disease test for cancer. Tempus expects the acquisition will allow it to better support patients around cancer diagnostics, treatment selection, recurrence and monitoring. 
    • “The planned purchase follows recent interest in blood-based cancer tests across the medtech industry. Abbott in March closed its $21 billion purchase of Exact Sciences, Guardant’s colon cancer blood test received UnitedHealth coverage, and Freenome recently shared results of a pivotal study of its blood-based screening for colorectal cancer.”
  • STAT News adds,
    • “It’s officially a trend. For the third time in nine months, a pharma company has announced that it is assembling the largest AI supercomputer in the life sciences industry. This time, it is Bristol Myers Squibb.” * * *
    • “The Princeton, N.J.-based company’s move to own its AI infrastructure, announced on Monday, is the latest in a string of pharma bets on AI data centers. In October 2025, Eli Lilly announced it was building pharma’s largest AI data center with over 1,000 of what was then NVIDIA’s latest processors. In March, Roche announced it had the “greatest announced GPU footprint available to a pharmaceutical company” with 2,176 processors on its premises in the U.S. and Europe, plus more available in the cloud for a total of over 3,500 processors. Now BMS says it is increasing its AI computing capacity more than tenfold to become the “most powerful” AI buildout in pharma, though executives declined to specify a number of processors.”
  • Cardiovascular News informs us,
    • “Heartflow had a busy four days at SCCT2026, the annual meeting of the Society of Cardiovascular ComputedTomography (SCCT). The company’s advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies were at the heart of multiple presentations, for example, and it officially launched a new staging tool based on total plaque volume (TPV) calculations.
    • Heartflow’s AI software turns coronary CT angiography (CCTA) images into personalized 3D models of the heart. With tools like Plaque Analysis and Roadmap Analysis, the company’s Heartflow One platform helps care teams explore, evaluate and manage a patient’s coronary health. 
    • “Heartflow technology was featured in eight different clinical studies presented at SCCT2026, providing an in-depth look at the cardiovascular health of more than 36,000 adult patients. DECIDE, for example, focused on registry data from nearly 12,000 symptomatic patients with zero coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores. These individuals would have typically been categorized as zero-risk patients, but researchers found that approximately one-half of the cohort actually did present with non-calcified plaques that were missed by the original CAC score.
    • “While coronary calcium scoring has been a helpful foundational tool, relying on calcium scoring alone leaves a diagnostic gap for clinicians, particularly regarding high-risk non-calcified plaque,” investigator Vincent L. Sorrell, MD, co-director of the Cardiovascular Research Priority Area at the Gill Heart and Vascular Institute at University of Kentucky HealthCare, said in a statement. “The DECIDE data demonstrate that Heartflow’s TPV-based staging unmasks important cardiovascular disease in over half of symptomatic patients who present with a calcium score of zero. This enhances our ability to accurately identify at-risk individuals and optimize preventive management based on a more precise understanding of their actual disease burden.”

Friday report

Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC

  • Politico reports,
    • “House GOP leaders released text Friday for a bill to fund the vast majority of the federal government from the start of the next fiscal year on Oct. 1 until after the midterm elections — bypassing the bipartisan appropriations process and daring Democrats to pick a shutdown fight months before voters head to the polls.
    • “Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday he plans to put the legislation on the floor next week.
    • The measure would fund the government through Dec. 4 and, as Republican leaders promised, would not include additional policy riders or unrelated provisions.”
  • Roll Call offers a wrap up of this week’s activities on Capitol Hill.
  • STAT News relates,
    • “Pretty much everyone who cares about public health agrees that it’s a good idea to help people quit smoking, the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the U.S. Doctors may soon get some extra encouragement to lend a hand, thanks to proposed changes in Medicare’s physician fee schedules.
    • “Physicians who offer counseling on quitting cigarettes or other tobacco products during visits with patients would get a 19% increase in reimbursement, according to a few paragraphs buried in the 1,592-page document released this week. The same adjustment would also apply to assessments of, and interventions for, alcohol and substance misuse during doctors’ visits.
    • “Given the evidence supported role these services play in preventing and managing chronic disease […] we believe that valuation should more accurately reflect the clinical intensity and work associated with these time-based services,” the proposal from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services explains. Comments on the proposal are due Sept. 14. 
    • “The prioritization of cessation as a service is long overdue, and we’re very excited about it,” said Anne DiGiulio, the American Lung Association’s senior director of nationwide tobacco cessation and health policy.”
  • Health Day adds,
    • “For people assigned to smoking very low nicotine-content cigarettes (VLNCs), there is minimal evidence for compensation for reduced nicotine levels, according to a review published online July 15 in JAMA Network Open.
    • “Rachel L. Denlinger-Apte, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and colleagues examined whether people who smoke may increase their smoking to compensate for the reduced nicotine levels when smoking VLNCs for prolonged periods. Data were obtained from 17 randomized controlled trials published between 2010 and 2024, representing 5,500 adolescents and adults who smoked cigarettes daily or nondaily. A subset of 2,454 participants from seven trials were included in the pooled meta-analysis.”
  • Food Dive relates,
    • “The FDA’s acting head of food on Tuesday [July 14] admitted crafting its highly anticipated definition of ultraprocessed foods is proving “quite challenging,” though he added it’s still a “priority” for the agency.
    • “Just because it’s a tough challenge, it doesn’t mean it’s something that we should shy away from,” Donald Prater, FDA’s acting deputy commissioner for food, said during a keynote at the IFT First conference in Chicago.
  • Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News adds,
    • “Ketogenic diets, originally developed in the 1920s to treat epilepsy, have been adapted in the past few decades as a strategy to lose weight or increase lifespan. This type of diet (a high percentage of fat, low percentage of carbohydrates, and normal or reduced amounts of protein) forces the body to burn fatty acids for energy in place of carbohydrates such as glucose. Burning these lipids produces ketone bodies—primarily β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) and acetoacetate—as byproducts of fatty acid metabolism. The impact of ketogenic diets on the gastrointestinal tract remains poorly understood.
    • “In recent years, scientists investigated whether this type of diet might affect the development of cancer. While some research has shown that the diet may protect against the development of colon cancer, a new study suggests that in the small intestine, a ketogenic diet may increase the risk of cancer—with a mechanism through fatty acid oxidation rather than ketone metabolism.”
    • “This work appears in Nature in the paper, “Ketogenic diet mediates intestinal tumorigenesis through lipids not ketones.”

From the Food and Drug Administration,

  • Fierce Pharma reports,
    • “With two approved medicines to treat primary immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) and a third therapy in phase 3 testing, Novartis is on its way to cornering the market for the indication.
    • “On Friday its first drug to hit the market for IgAN, Fabhalta, gained a full blessing from the FDA, with the U.S. regulator converting the drug’s accelerated approval into a traditional nod. Fabhalta is now endorsed to slow kidney function decline in adult IgAN patients who are at risk for disease progression. 
    • “The original, speedy IgAN approval for the first-in-class factor B complement inhibitor came two years ago to reduce proteinuria.”
  • Cardiovascular Business relates,
    • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has shared updated recommendations about recalled thoracic stent grafts. Customers were previously told they could still use the devices as long as they were aware of the risk and knew how to respond if an issue occurred. Now, however, the FDA is emphasizing that these devices should be returned to the manufacturer and not be used to treat any other patients.”

From the judicial front,

  • Healthcare Dive reports,
    • “A federal judge has temporarily halted provisions of a rule from the Trump administration meant to reshape the Affordable Care Act exchanges days before they were scheduled to go into effect.
    • “On Thursday, a Maryland district court determined the coalition of cities and provider groups that filed a lawsuit challenging the rule would suffer “irreparable harm” from the policies, including the expansion of bare-bones catastrophic coverage and stricter verification of enrollees’ eligibility for subsidies.
    • “The stay is a victory for insurers, given it staves off further disruption to the already destabilized ACA marketplaces. However, the relief may be short-lived, as some of the policies codified in the GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will be enacted in 2028.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced today,
    • “As of July 17, 2026, the amount of acute respiratory illness causing people to seek health care is very low.
    • “RSV activity is very low in most areas of the country. Emergency department visits and hospitalizations for RSV are low but remain highest among infants and children younger than 4 years old.
    • “COVID-19 activity is very low and stable nationally but is beginning to show early signs of an increase, mainly in the South.
    • “Seasonal influenza activity is low.
    • “Parainfluenza (PIV), a respiratory virus that can cause illnesses such as croup, is elevated nationally. Rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV) activity is elevated in some regions. Whooping cough (pertussis) continues to circulate at lower levels compared to post-pandemic peaks.”
  • The University of Minnesota’s CIDRAP reports,
    • “With 29 newly confirmed cases, the the US measles total is just 29 cases short of last year’s sobering total, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an update today.
    • “The CDC announced 2,260 confirmed cases so far in 2026, all but 15 of them locally acquired. The total for all of last year was 2,289 infections, which was the most since 1991. The country could lose its measles elimination status this fall, which it gained in 2000.
    • Of the 2,260 cases for the year, 20% of infections are in children age 5 and under, and 70% involve kids and young adults to age 19. Six percent of patients have been hospitalized, compared with 10% in 2025. Among all measles patients, 93% are unvaccinated or have unknown vaccine status. 
    • “No measles deaths have been reported this year, compared with three in 2025.”
  • MedPage Today adds,
    • “Declining U.S. vaccination rates have led to a resurgence in large measles outbreaks.
    • “Two papers examining South Carolina and Utah’s outbreak showed that hypoxemia and pneumonia were the most common conditions leading to hospitalization for measles.
    • “In the South Carolina report, two of 13 hospitalized patients developed measles encephalitis, a life-threatening complication that can cause brain damage.”
  • The American Hospital Association points out,
    • “A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released July 16 found that wastewater surveillance failed to detect an internationally circulating measles genotype that accounted for about 5% to 10% of U.S. measles cases in 2025, highlighting potential challenges of using wastewater surveillance as a public health tool. The report said that of two unrelated measles cases reported to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in February 2026, wastewater surveillance detected one case before the case was reported. The second, caused by the international B3 genotype, was undetected. Public health officials later released a modified laboratory procedure that improved the detection of the B3 genotype. The CDC said that wastewater testing should be standardized and revalidated against circulating viruses and supported by publicly available whole-genome sequencing data.”
  • The Washington Post reports,
    • “Taylor Farms announced Friday that it is “voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the U.S. market,” after federal investigators identified some of the lettuce it provided to Taco Bell restaurants as linked to one of the largest U.S. outbreaks of cyclosporiasis this summer. 
    • “The company said in a statement that it made the decision based on information provided by the Food and Drug Administration, whose investigators had traced the outbreak to “a specific independent farm” representing less than 1 percent of the U.S. iceberg lettuce supply. The company added that it would remove all iceberg lettuce from the region indefinitely “out of an abundance of caution.”
    • “The company said no other Taylor Fresh Foods products across the country are impacted. It said no Taylor Farms branded salad kits contain iceberg lettuce.” * * *
    • “Other companies have begun to respond to a parasite-borne illness that has sickened thousands, and the federal health investigation has widened beyond Taco Bell restaurants. Sysco, one of the world’s largest food suppliers, on Thursday voluntarily stopped distributing certain iceberg lettuce products from Mexico after the agency said it was tracing where the contaminated lettuce may have been distributed throughout the food supply.”
  • The Wall Street Journal explains “What to Know About the Cyclosporiasis Outbreak and How to Stay Safe”
    • “More than 30 states have reported cases of the illness. Taco Bell’s lettuce is linked to cases in at least five states.” * * *
    • “Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that can cause vomiting and diarrhea, but it typically comes on within 12 to 48 hours of exposure and lasts one to three days. 
    • “Cyclospora, on the other hand, can cause weeks of relapsing diarrhea where someone gets sick, feels better, and then gets sick again, said Caitlin Rivers, director of the Center for Outbreak Response Innovation and an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “It lasts much longer than a stomach bug where you’re sick for a day and you bounce back.” 
    • “Another big difference: Many foodborne illnesses, like norovirus, are highly infectious and spread between humans through something as simple as touching a doorknob. 
    • “One piece of good news: Cyclosporiasis is rarely contagious between people.” 
  • The Washington Post tells us,
    • “Plumes of thick, toxic wildfire smoke from fires burning in Canada are billowing into the United States. The phenomenon, where smoke blots out the blue sky overhead, making the air appear milky-white or even orange, has become a relatively regular fixture of summers where out-of-control wildfires in the West bring noxious smoke downwind.” * * *
    • “There’s essentially a west-to-east conveyor belt that’s pumping high-altitude smoke eastward. That’s because the smoke is surfing the jet stream, a river of swiftly moving winds in the upper atmosphere. The jet stream is cresting around a ridge of high pressure parked over the central states.
    • “The smoke is also being steered by persistent troughing, or areas of low pressure, east of the Hudson Bay in northern Quebec. That counterclockwise-spinning low induces northwesterly winds, which are winds that blow from the northwest and pump the smoke in a southeast direction.
    • “That brings surface-level smoke into the Lower 48 in copious quantities. Medium-range weather models suggest a similar pattern continues into late July, meaning smoke will continue taking this trajectory.” * * *
    • “As of early Friday morning, Chicago, Detroit, D.C. and New York City were the most polluted major cities in the world — exceeding Delhi and Kolkata, India; Jakarta, Indonesia; and most major cities in China.”
  • Kaufmann Hall notes,
    • “Less than half of adults in rural communities have had a routine medical visit or cancer screening in the past year, according to a recent survey by the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The broader survey of U.S. adults found that half of all respondents expressed concerns and confusion about the cost of medical screenings. Nearly 15% of respondents also expressed concerns about the costs of follow-up appointments and lost wages. The news comes as the American Association for Cancer Research’s latestprogress report finds that declines in cancer death rates have been slower among rural residents than those living in urban areas.”
  • The Wall Street Journal journalist lets us know “I Tested My Blood for Microplastics. I Got a Number, but Few Answers.
    • “Plastics are accumulating in our bodies, but scientists aren’t sure how bad that is for our health.”
    • “Microplastics are ubiquitous. Bottled water and processed food are big culprits. So is clothing, furniture and just about everything else.
    • “It’s hard to find things that are not made of plastic,” says Phoebe Stapleton, an associate professor in the department of pharmacology and toxicology at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University. 
    • “And they get into our bodies through both ingestion and inhalation. There hasn’t been a tissue or organ in the body where microplastics haven’t been found. Lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, brain, testicles, the fluid in our eyes, and ovaries—all have microplastics, says Stapleton.
    • “No wonder there’s more interest in testing. The blood test has been commercially available since 2023. I purchased it for $135 through Bryan Johnson’s longevity health site, Blueprint.” 
  • STAT News informs us,
    • “For the last year, a small California startup has been making extraordinary claims about the ability of its technology to potentially treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy — and maybe a slew of other genetic diseases, too.
    • “The company, Sonothera, does not yet have clinical data. But it’s presented data in animals so stunning that other experts can’t quite wrap their minds around it.” * * *
    • “The technology in question is ultrasound — yes, the same technology used for imaging pregnancies. Sonothera is using it to deliver replacement genes into the muscles of mice and monkeys.
    • “The approach marks a radical departure in the gene-therapy field, which has long relied on viruses to ferry genes into cells. Those viruses, while occasionally powerful, have severe drawbacks. They can only deliver genes of a certain size and can only be administered once, after which patients develop immunity. If the first treatment didn’t get enough of the gene to enough cells — well, you’d better have some other fix.” * * *
    • “Answers may come soon in clinical trials. Sonothera’s backers point to multiple pieces of supporting evidence, including improved muscle function in mice. And the company is still optimizing its therapy. 
    • “For humans, Sonothera’s goals are far more modest than what was achieved in some of its studies: a 15% increase in dystrophin, while creating protein in at least 20% of a patient’s muscle fibers.”
  • Per BioPharma Dive,
    • “GSK is discontinuing trials of an experimental chronic cough medicine it bought in a $2 billion deal three years ago, announcing Friday that camlipixant had failed to meet nearly all of the goals in two Phase 3 trials. The British pharmaceutical giant said the “limited efficacy demonstrated is unlikely to transform patient care.”
    • “The termination closes a blockbuster opportunity for GSK, which hoped to add camlipixant to a portfolio of respiratory drugs that includes asthma and COPD treatments like Trelegy and Anoro. The company said it is continuing Phase 2 trials in people with irritable bowel syndrome.
    • “Camlipixant’s failure follows that of two others in the “P2X3 antagonist” class that were developed by Bayer and Merck & Co, the latter of which spent more than $500 million to gain control of its drug. The setback also clears away a threat to Trevi Therapeutics, which is advancing a different type of treatment in chronic cough.”
  • and
    • “Merck & Co.’s partner Kelun-Biotech said its experimental medicine sac-TMT helped patients with a form of lung cancer stave off disease progression better than a standard regimen including chemotherapy in a new Phase 3 study.
    • “The trial, conducted in China, included patients with locally advanced or metastastic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer whose tumor cells don’t have enough of a protein called PD-L1. When working properly, PD-L1 helps the immune system focus on killing diseased cells instead of healthy ones. But too much or too little of this protein can throw the system off kilter.
    • “Kelun previously saw success with sac-TMT in PD-L1-positive patients and is now tackling the “negative” patients who represent what it calls a “therapeutic bottleneck.” Sac-TMT is the first so-called antibody drug conjugate to succeed in a Phase 3 study of this patient population in combination with an immunotherapy like Keytruda, Kelun said Tuesday [July 14].”

From the U.S. healthcare and artificial intelligence front,

  • Beckers Hospital Review reports,
    • “Vascular surgery is projected to have the highest shortages of physicians, the Health Resources and Services Administration’s National Center for Health Workforce Analysis found.
    • “The HRSA workforce simulation model assesses the adequacy of the nation’s projected workforce supply for 35 physician specialties from 2023 through 2038.
    • “Across all specialties, there is a projected shortage of 141,160 full-time equivalent physicians by 2038. Only five of the 35 physician specialties are expected to see a surplus of workers. The shortages in some specialties can be mitigated by increasing the use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants, according to the center.”
  • and 
    • “Novant Health is the latest health system to launch round-the-clock virtual primary care that uses AI to assess patients before connecting them with a clinician, joining at least seven other systems offering similar 24/7 care models.”
    • The article lists seven other health systems using this model.
  • and
    • The pandemic revealed a demand for telehealth, forcing the healthcare industry to rethink how and where care could be delivered. 
    • Patients and providers alike discovered that high-quality care doesn’t have to mean an in-person visit. Hospitals, health systems and healthcare companies rapidly expanded their telehealth offerings accordingly.
    • The momentum hasn’t slowed, and today’s telehealth landscape is defined by smarter platforms, broader access and solutions designed to bring expert care directly to patients regardless of geography, mobility, or circumstance. 
    • [The article lists] 272 telehealth companies to know. 
  • STAT News relates,
    • “Every day, doctors turn to specialized calculators to make decisions about their patients’ care. Kidney performance? There’s a calculator for that. Chance of a successful vaginal birth after a previous C-section? There’s a calculator for that. 
    • “Medicine has accumulated hundreds of these clinical scores and decision-making tools, and their numbers continue to grow along with the scale of clinical data. But just because a calculator exists doesn’t mean doctors should always trust its output. 
    • “In clinical practice, a lot of the tools that we use, we genuinely have no idea how limited it is in its validation,” said health systems researcher and gastroenterologist Shazia Siddique. That is why MDCalc, the company Siddique joined last year, is launching a quality-rating system to apply to the more than 800 clinical tools and calculators that doctors use through its site.”
  • Per Fierce Pharma,
    • “Following the Independence Day holiday, the overall GLP-1 market was down 5.1% week over week as measured by total prescriptions across obesity and diabetes uses, according to IQVIA data cited by Citi.
    • “In the obesity field specifically, total scripts for Eli Lilly’s Zepbound shrank by 3.1% sequentially to a little below 660K, while Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy dipped 4.4% to about 448.5K.
    • “Against this backdrop, Lilly’s oral Foundayo seemed to enjoy a small inflection point, with a total 24,303 scripts notably breaking away from its roughly 20K level in the prior five weeks.  
    • “Meanwhile, joining the bigger trend, Wegovy pill scripts dropped to 147.5K during the week, versus about 153K the prior week or 161.5K at its peak. But the contribution of the oral version to the overall Wegovy scripts remained stable at around a third, per Citi’s note.” 
  • Per BioPharma Dive,
    • “Cash-strapped biotechnology company Jasper Therapeutics has gained a financial lifeline through a merger with a privately held immune drug developer.
    • “Jasper said Thursday it has completed an all-stock acquisition of Kira Pharmaceuticals and, alongside that deal, raised $132 million in a private stock offering. The new funding will enable Jasper, which had just $14 million in cash at the end of March, to operate through the second half of 2028. The combined company will retain the Jasper stock ticker, but have a bigger pipeline that now includes two immune disease drugs Kira has been developing.”